


The war is over

by MyNameWasAlreadyTaken3117



Series: the war is over [1]
Category: Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Future Fic, Mutual Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Ten Years Later, They all need therapy, and hugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 100,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24588529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyNameWasAlreadyTaken3117/pseuds/MyNameWasAlreadyTaken3117
Summary: It's over.Ten years fighting and finally the war is over.Raelle is lost and no one has seen or heard from Scylla since the war ended, but some things are just inevitable...With the war over and conscription abolished its a brave new world for witches, but some people refuse to accept change. Someone has to stand up and fight back. And if Raelle and Scylla ever were anything, they were fighters.
Relationships: Raelle Collar/Scylla Ramshorn
Series: the war is over [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066973
Comments: 418
Kudos: 578





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I know, I'm writing another story, but I came up with this idea and figure I'd share it with you guys and see what you think.  
> Anyways, enjoy...?

It was over.

Ten years fighting culminate in this moment. 

And yet, nothing prepares her for it. All her life she lived knowing what was to come. She was always going to end up in Fort Salem, always going to be a soldier like her momma, always going to fight for a war that wasn’t hers. She had resigned herself to her destiny and given herself to cause that she didn’t believe in. It was never her choice.

But now she is free. All witches are free. Tally and Abigail, everyone. Conscription is over. She still can’t wrap her head around it.

Tally is the first to leave base. She and Gerrit get an apartment together, neither one knows what they're going to do, but they have all their lifes to figure it out. Raelle is happy to see her go. After all they have been through, Tally deserves to be happy. She visits them two months after and finds them living a quiet and happy life.

Abigail choses to stay in the army and help make a real change for witches everywhere. She was born and raised to be a soldier, a leader. Raelle know that there is nothing that Abigail can't do if she puts her mind to it. When she leaves for Washington, Abigail offers fot her to tag along, but she says no.

The day after Abigail leaves, Raelle requests her discharge and packs her bags. Anacostia, who was made general during the years of the war and put in charge of Fort Salem tells her to take a leave while she handles her discharge papers. There's an odd expression in her face when she spejs, but Raelle is to distracted thinking of her future to notice.

The base is almost empty as the doors close behind her. Almost all witches left in the months that followed the announcement of the end of conscription. She looks over her shoulder one last time, remembering ten years ago when she first walked into Fort Salem, barely eighteen and filled with an anger that threatened to consume her.

So much has change since then and yet, as she looks at this place for the last time she can't help but feel nostalgic. The army throw her into a war and made her do horrible things, she has fought, lied and killed for the army. But she had made friends that became her family and learned to tame her anger. She has become so much stronger than she ever dreamed she could be, and even when her heart was broken she found love in the army too.

With no plans in her future she goes back to the Cession. Her father is happy to have her back home, but her mother is there too. She barely makes it two days.

Her dad had learned of her mother two years into the war, she had gotten authorization from Alder to tell him the truth and on her very first leave after her deployment straight out of War College she had visited him in the Cession and told him Willa was alive and Spree. She had held him while he cried and when she left to go back to Fort Salem he had hugged her tight and thanked her.

So she didn't expect to find the recently pardoned ex terrorist leader Willa Collar casually sitting in the coach of her childhood home when she walks in. Her dad tries to explain, and she only half hears him, throwing her bag in her room she walks out of the house.

The Cession looks the same as it had when she first left for Fort Salem. It never seems to change, and she feels out of place now, in her pristine uniform that she didn't even thought of changing out of. She gets a few odd looks from pass byers but she keeps walking. When she returnes to the house it's dark already and her dad is waiting for her in the porch.

“You’re not stayin’, eh?” he says, his voice filled with sorrow but still smiling “At least stay the night, Rae. Please”

She accepts to stay the night. Willa is gone, sleeping in her room, and she and her dad share dinner while watching some game on tv. They laugh like the used to back in the old days. He kisses her forehead when she goes to sleep and she hugs him tight. She doesn't want to let go.

The Cession isn't her home anymore. Her father cries when she leaves. But she promises to come back to visit and this time they both knew that she can actually keep that promise. She’ll find time, and a way to deal with her mother for him.

She spents the next couple of days traveling in the general direction of Fort Salem. Anacostia would call her when her discharge is done, and she wants to see her before leaving for good. The sergeant turned general has been more of a maternal figure for her than her own returned from the dead mother.

“Meet me on my office on Fort Salem” is Anacostia’s message and even though going back implies putting on her uniform, she decides to walk into Fort Salem dressed as a civilian. It’s what she’s going to be in a couple of minutes anyways.

When she walks into the office Anacostia seems very much as unimpressed by her attitude as she had ten years ago when she first reported for basic.

“I was too soft on you on basic, Captain Collar. Come in, sit down”

She does as told, despite her inner rebelliousness, she spent ten years in the army and some things just didn’t go away. Like following orders from her superiors.

“How was your return to civilian life?” there a hint of humor in her voice, like she knows what the answer’s going to be “Figure out what you want to do now?”

“Not all that good. It was…weird” the bad thing about having this conversation with Quartermaine is that they have grown close over the years, and when she had no longer been under her direct supervision they became closer. Anacostia is her mentor, and her friend. She can read her like an open book, there's no point in lying “Tally made it look easy, when I visited her she seemed…happy. I wanna feel that way too”

“Craven was always meant for civilian life, she was a good soldier, but her heart was never into the military way of life”

“What about me?” she asks quietly, and hopes that maybe Anacostia has an answer for her.

Anacostia sits back in her armchair, she seems to be getting into character “I have a proposition for you, Collar”

“What?” she asks when the pause it’s too long.

Anacostia laughs and points to some papers in her desk “These are your discharge papers, I just got to sign them and you’re done with the army, but… I think you should stay”

“Why?” she’s surprised of her own calmness.

“Be honest, Collar, I sign your papers, you walk out the door with a shitty pension, what are you going to do?” Anacostia waits a minute for her to answer “I think you can do much more in the army than whatever shitty job you can get out there, you’re gonna be twenty eight soon, the only experience you have is War College and war itself, you are a fixer, but you’re not a doctor. There’s still work to be done here, Raelle. Stay”

She doesn’t want to admit that Anacostia is right. She was a teenager and then she was a soldier. It’s all she’s ever known. Maybe there’s comfort in security. There’s no war anymore, just cleaning the mess. She can do that.

“You can still quit at any moment” Anacostia has gotten good at reading her mind “What you say?”

“What would I do?” she asks her instead of answering, but it’s an answer in itself and they both know it.

“First thing you put on your uniform, Captain, and then I want you on a plane to D.C, you’re joining Bellweather’s team” Anacostia seems delighted “You’ll be leaving tonight, so get ready”

“Yes, ma’am” she stands up to leave. She’s excited about whatever comes next, a new challenge, she can do that, and Abigail as her boss is going to be a pain, but they’ll be togheter again.

“One more thing” Anacostia’s voice stops her in the door “You will travel to D.C with a former Spree operative, she too will be joining Bellweather’s team”

Raelle swears her heart stops. For the first time in many years she allows herself to think of her.

No one has seen or heard from her since the end of the war, and even before her messages were few and far between. Willa had send her as an intelligence agent on the Camarilla soon after the arraignment between the Army and the Spree had been signed and she had remained in place until the war was over, Raelle had never dare ask what had been of her, but had always been curious. She didn’t love her, not like before, too much had happened between them, but she certainly felt something for her. She cared for her, how could she not? It was Scylla.

She turned to Anacostia expecting to hear her say it wasn’t her. But she found a strange emotion in the eyes of the general. She was cautious when she spoke.

“It’s her”

_Scylla._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scylla makes a choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, thanks to everyone who left comments and kudos, hope you enjoy this new chapter!  
> I'm still working on Dumbass shitbird, so i dont know when i'll update but i'll try to work out a schedule  
> that's all

There is something beautiful about Fort Salem at dawn.

Or maybe it’s because this is the first time she’s been here in almost a decade. Damn, it really has been a long time.

Is it weird that she missed it?

It was definitely better than some of the places she’d been to in the last couple years. The motel in Montana quickly comes to mind, the cabin in the middle of fucking nowhere Wisconsin, and of course her personal favorite the dungeon of the 16th century mansion in Spain. How did the Camarilla even find them in Spain anyways?

So, yeah, she is happy to be in Fort Salem again. She keeps walking, trailing behind the moody general. They walk across the main courtyard and pass her old barracks, she smiles at the sight, and the memories that come with it, of her. Always her. The buildings are quiet and empty, and now that she looks closely, it looks like a ghost town.

“Ramshorn! Keep up!” the general shouts and Scylla rolls her eyes but follows the woman.

They enter the main building, and through a maze of hallways end up in Alder’s old office, now occupied by General Anacostia Quartermaine. Anacostia stands when they enter.

“General Bellweather, Scylla” she greets them “Please sit down”

Petra sits down and motions for Scylla to do the same.

“So, Anacostia, how’s everything over here?” Petra starts with fake interest, both Scylla and Anacostia roll their eyes “Heard we had a surprisingly high number of recruits despite no longer having conscription”

“Let’s get to the point, Petra. Why are you here?”

“Heard around you were in charge of putting together Abigail’s team in D.C. So I came to offer you my best asset” she point at Scylla.

“What?” Scylla stands up immediately, there is no way she’s playing Bellweather’s games “No, no way! I made my part in the war. I’m free, just like all the other witches!”

“Sit down, Ramshorn” Petra orders and Scylla defiantly stays standing. Petra stands, she looks ready to beat her up, if only her High Atlantic pride allowed her to.

“Okay, ok. Enough with this bullshit” Anacostia reminds them she’s still in the room with a glare “Petra leave us, please”

Petra looks at Scylla with an intensity that reminds her of her daughter. Abigail. Raelle’s best friend. Her sister. Petra walks away with a huff.

“Sit down, Scylla, please”

This time she does sit down. Anacostia smiles softly, her eyes are in the door Petra just walked out of. She picks a scotch bottle and two glasses and pours the drinks. She offers Scylla one.

“Can’t imagine serving with her for ten years” there’s humor in her voice and Scylla swallows her answer with the scotch “Not gonna talk, then. Listen, I read your service record Scylla, what you did…we owe you so much. Surely we’d still be fighting if it wasn’t for you and your team”

“Thanks” she wants to say more, so much more. Her team. Fuck. They were all dead now.

Anacostia seems to figure out her mistake “I’m sorry. I… Listen, you told Alder long ago that you weren’t gonna stop until there was total liberation, remember that?”

Scylla laughs and puts her glass back down, Anacostia understanding the silent request and pours her another scotch.

“I remember” she takes the drink and swallows it one go again, she laughs dryly “I was so stupid, I didn’t even know what it meant then. Total liberation! We won the war, but how many have we lost?” she looks at the general not expecting an answer, but she’s unprepared for the look of understanding in her eyes. How many cadets had Quartermaine train in basic before they were deployed to die a senseless death? “This was never what I wanted” she adds quietly.

“What did you want?” Anacostia asks, there a hint of curiosity in her otherwise unreadable demeanor.

“To be free. I wanted to have a choice. The world is so fuking chaotic, I just wanted to feel like I was in control, like I mattered. Like all of us mattered”

Anacostia nods, taking in her words “I get that. But change always comes at a cost, freedom is never freely given”

“I know. We both do” she acknowledges.

“Petra’s not wrong about you being a good asset, you know?” Anacostia begins and when Scylla doesn’t say anything she keeps talking “We are putting together a team with Major Bellweather at the head. There a lot of movement in D.C these days. The war might be over but make no mistake, Scylla, our fight has only just began…”

“I’m in” she’s not even sure why, but Anacostia is right, she’s always known that it would take more than just winning the war to be truly free. Witches are still witches, and humans are still afraid. She’s seen what humans can do when they were afraid “I’m in”

“Why?”

She expected many things to come out of the general’s mouth, but that was not it. She doesn’t even have to think of her answer, she knows why.

“I have to make it right for them. My team…”

Anacostia nods “I’ll start the paperwork. Plane leaves tonight”

* * *

She walks out of the office in silence. She has all day before the flight. She’s sure Petra’s gone by now and she has no idea what to do. Fort Salem, as beautiful as it is, it’s also filled with some very painful memories. Everywhere she looks there a piece of her, of them. And with every step she feels her heart threatening to break again.

Last she heard Raelle had been in the front lines of every battle in the past six years. Running from place to place, where intelligence lead, just like her. Bleeding in every goddamn continent. She hated the idea of Raelle being hurt, but it was the reality of battle. General Bellweather used to let slip information regarding her daughter's unit whenever they talk to relay intelligence. That’s how she had heard of her going to War College, and graduating at the top of her class with Abigail and Tally.

Her team used to tease her for always talking about the “blonde fixer”, and how she always checked the picture she kept on the inside pocket of her jacket. She would tell them it was nothing, it was like any soldier in every war before keeping a picture of a loved one to remind them of what they were fighting for. And it was true. She would always fight for Raelle, she's always going to be worth it.

Her team. And she used to say that Necros worked alone. She had loved them, every single one of them. Now she couldn’t even say their names without being reminded of their battered bodies lying lifeless on the dirty floor. They had kept her sane for all those years of moving where the information lead, taking out cells of Camarilla soldiers, never resting, never staying too long anywhere. They were her family, and now they were gone. All of them. She hated the Camarilla for it, like she had hated the army because of her parents. And now they were all dead too. She didn’t regret it, the blood in her hands, it had been justice.

She finds herself back in front of her old barracks and sits in a bench. A young cadet walks towards her.

“Are you Sargent Ramshorn?”

“Just Scylla” she says on instinct, Petra’s administrative decisions always bothered her. The cadet looks confused “Yeah, I’m Ramshorn”

“General Quartermaine told me to give you this” she holds the bag for Scylla to take “And to say the flight leaves at 2200, she also said to say good luck”

Scylla smiles and takes the bag from the young cadet who' still there for some strange reason “What?”

“You are my superior. I’m waiting to be dismissed… ma’am”

She never got used to the army, but somehow the army always found way to drag her back in.

“You are dismissed, private. Go back to your C.O”

“Yes, ma’am” the young girls leaves in a hurry and Scylla rolls her eyes, Anacostia is probably laughing in her office.

She checks the bag, it’s the same one she brought when she came with Petra, but inside there’s a note from Anacostia and underneath a dress uniform, complete with the shoes, sash and sergeant insignia.

_“I heard around you looked good in blue. Think about it. Bellweather has orders to take you as a civilian if it’s what you decide”_

There a number and key underneath the note, her old room. She walks into the familiar building and steps into the room. It looks the same it did all those years ago and everywhere she looks there's a memory of Raelle. She drops her bag on the floor and searches the closet for a towel.

She comes from the shower feeling more relax, if slightly anxious about D.C. she picks the clothes and gets dressed. Its nine thirty when she’s done, she grabs her bag and walks out.

The plane is the standard military flight, there are only two women there when she walks in. The pilot and copilot. They greet her and start moving to their positions, she checks the time again, its 9:45, if she learned anything in the military is that punctuality is the law, and so whoever they’re still waiting for should be here any minute.

She hears her before she see her. its dark out, except for the lights illuminating the airstrip, but she’d recognize that voice anywhere in the world.

A second later she gets on the plane and Scylla suddenly can’t breathe.

She is right there.

_Raelle._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr @realbluedragon


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scylla and Raelle finally meet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys i hope you enjoy this new chapter!  
> The plot is slowly coming togheter....  
> Anyways, I suck at naming characters so if you have any cool name for a character feel free to drop it on the comments I'd love to hear from you
> 
> That's all

“Raelle”

The name falls of her lips like a prayer, and their eyes meet.

“Scylla” Raelle says her name like she can’t believe her eyes, her voice is raspy, she is tired, and she looks tired. Scylla feels tired too.

Neither one moves, there’s a whole plane between them and somehow it’s too much and not enough. Scylla doesn’t know what to say, she wants to feel her close to her, like they used to. It’s so stupid, ‘cause it been ten years since they were anything to each other, and she can’t help the way her heart beats madly inside her chest. She’s been dreaming of this moment since the last time they were together. 

Raelle is playing with her hands, she’s nervous. Of course she is. They were at odds with each other when the war started and the alliance between army and Spree was forged, when Scylla stood beside Willa, and Raelle, anger and disbelief written in her eyes, stood with Bellweather one step behind Alder.

The words exchanged then were filled with hate and betrayal, an open wound that would bleed for years, until their next meeting.

Beltane, five years ago.

Scylla wonders if Raelle remembers Beltane like she does. If she too has spent entire nights awake because the memories are too real and yet not enough to soothe the aching in her heart.

She can remember every second like if she was still there, still in Fort Saint James, when the threat of the Camarilla was out of everyone’s mind for one night, and they changed their uniforms in favour of normal clothes, white soft cotton that’s smelled of flowers instead of dirt and smoke. She remembers dancing to the overpowering sound of the reel, the moment she felt the change in the air, when they weight that had taken residence in her chest was lifted and she was light as a feather flying in the wind, when the feeling of blood in her hands turned into red hot passion. Her eyes found Raelle’s then, across the courtyard and the army of dancers.

She can still feel the ghost of hands on her skin, of calloused fingers holding on to her as if she was the only thing keeping her afloat. Scylla has never been a fan of Beltane, it was never been her thing. But that night she believed.

And as she looks now at Raelle, she thinks she’s thinking of Beltane too. That she too is haunted by everything they could have been if they would have had the chance. She knows Raelle too is aware of everything that lies between them, blocking their path.

She sits back down and Raelle does too. The silence is heavy, charged with everything they both want to say but won’t. The engine starts and maybe now she can stop thinking, maybe she’ll find something distracting to focus on instead of the woman who used to be her whole fucking world sitting across from her.

“Do you know if we are waiting for someone else?” Raelle asks suddenly, she’s playing with the ring in her hands and purposely keeping her eyes away.

“No, I don’t. Anacostia didn’t say anything to me, she didn’t tell me about…you”

“Oh…I see, I’m sorry” she finally looks at her, and her eyes are filled with honesty “She told me, about you. It doesn’t make it any easier, if it helps”

Scylla laughs dryly and she doesn’t have to look to know Raelle is frowning “It doesn’t”

They stay silent again, and Scylla checks her clock to see that is ten fifteen and the plane has not moved. She wants to say something, make a passing comment, anything to make this tension go away.

The sound of boots on concrete just outside stops her from talking. A general and a lieutenant, if she’s not wrong are standing just outside the plane. Raelle is quickly on her feet and greets the general, Scylla is a second late to follow. She can feel the eyes of the older woman judging her, it’s probably the fact that she’s still wearing civilian clothes and she threw in the uniform coat on last minute. Raelle had seemed unfazed by it, and now she’s questioning her stupid decision.

“General Swythe” Raelle speaks to the older woman and Scylla remembers briefly of another Swythe, probably the child of this one, from a story Raelle told her one night. She had teased her for her obvious crush and Raelle had insisted that she only though Swythe was cute. Libba, that was her name. She committed the name to memory like she always did for the fallen soldiers. _Libba Swythe._

“Captain Collar and… Sergeant Ramshorn…from Intelligence, correct? You served under General Bellweather, you were Spree” she last part is said with venom, like if the sight of Scylla here is an atrocity.

She kind of agrees.

The woman’s eyes return to Raelle “This is Lieutenant Swythe, she’ll go with you to D.C”

Scylla opens her mouth to say that maybe they should ask Anacostia about this, but Raelle takes her hand to shut her up, and yeah…that’ll do it. She pauses and looks at Raelle, but she’s looking at the Swythes.

“Of course, ma’am”

General Swythe nods and then she’s pushing at Lieutenant Swythe towards the plane.

“Call me when you land” she orders the young woman.

“Yes, ma’am”

General Swythe turns to leave, and the plane starts moving. Scylla becomes aware of Raelle’s hand still gripping hers.

“So that was awkward” Lieutenant Swythe smiles kindly at the two of them.

Raelle immediately let’s go of her hand and returns Swythe’s smile, but hers is hollow “It was not, I don’t think we’ve met, Lieutenant Swythe”

“It’s Louise” Lieutenant Swythe says “I know we’re soldiers and all that, but…I’m just Louise. The general is my aunt and she’s intense and soldier-y enough for the both of us”

“Louise, very well” Raelle seems tense, Scylla can tell by the way she’s standing and the frown still in place.

“We should probably sit down” she says and Louise nods, Raelle seems thankful for the interruption.

Louise follows Scylla, sitting down next to her and Raelle chooses the farthest place from them. Scylla looks worriedly at her and wonders what’s going through her head. She used to be able to tell just by looking at her eyes.

It was ten years ago, she reminds herself. So much as change since then. Scylla herself has changed, but for some reason she had hoped some things would stay the same. She desperately wants to reach out and make up for the time that was taken from them, to understand the silence of the girl she used to love.

“I had heard a lot about her” Louise says suddenly and Scylla finally tears her eyes from Raelle “Captain Collar is a legend. She’s not what I expected”

“War changes people” Scylla says simply, and she doesn’t truly know what else to say.

“True. I guess I’m the lucky one, I’ve never been deployed” Louise seems unaware of the way Scylla’s eyes go wide with surprise and keeps talking “I’m the last of my matriline”

So am I, she wants to say. So is Raelle. So many were and that didn’t stop them from dying. No one stood up for them and brought their cases to attention. Who cares about a dodger turned terrorist turned spy, she was disposable. Who cares about the rebellious girl from the Cession with a heart of gold. She was disposable too, they all were. She wants to pull her jacket away, she wants to burn it down.

“…so anyways my aunt sends me to spy on Major Bellweather’s team and…”

Wait. “What?”

“Don’t worry though, I’m not a snitch. But the job is better than whatever bureaucratic shit I can get doing on Fort Salem” Louise continues talking and Scylla tunes her off again.

Why is General Swythe sending people to D.C, to spy on Abigail’s team?

She thinks back to that conference call she overheard on her flight back from The Hague with Petra. The one with the General’s Council, and how odd she though it was when a General Swythe and a General Buttonwood had put on a motion to push back the election of the new General of the Witch Army.

It has been almost five months since the end of the war and Alder’s forced retirement. Since then the government supported the conformation of a General’s Council to take all decisions for the Witch Army and pick a new leader.

Scylla was with Petra since she returned from her last mission and they worked along with other countries witch armies for the presentation that they were expected to give to explain the end of the war to the United Nations. Petra excused herself from so many meetings to take a phone call from another general or a council meeting, and in all that time they hadn’t made their choice.

And it isn’t like there are all that many generals to choose from. There's six of them, all members of the council.

Scylla does not trust the army, but even more she doesn't trust the generals. Anacostia is the single exception, and only to some extent.

Petra now…Scylla is not stupid, she's done her homework with Petra and she knows the woman almost as much as the general knows her. She knows she was safe as long as she was useful. She came to Fort Salem only to see Anacostia and then she had all intentions to leave the army behind, and yet Petra find use for her again throwing her right into Quartermaine’s grasp. But what was Petra’s intention sending her to D.C?

She can understand Anacostia sending Raelle, they know eachother, trust eachother; and Swythe sending Louise to spy ‘cause she's her niece. A foolish move since the girl confessed without no one pushing her. A terrible spy. But why did Petra send her? And what is this team meant to do? Nothing makes sense.

She thinks back to Anacostia’s words that morning “the war miht be over but our fight has just begin”

_Our fight_.

If there's an us, who are the others?

And what are they fighting for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you likes it!
> 
> Hit me up w more names, questions or whatever on tumblr @realbluedragon


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little more on Raelle and they get to D.C

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, i was gonna update my other story today but I had a little incident with my laptop and well I gotta re write it now.... anyways i had this one almost done so here we are! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

She doesn’t like it when people look at her in awe.

But they do. They say she’s a hero, a legend.

She doesn’t feel like neither. She feels used.

Her hands are dirty and her body is filled with scars that tell a story different from the one that will go to the history books. She closes her eyes and sees the bodies, the fire and smoke. She hears their voices inside her head, broken sobs and screams filled with pain and desperation.

She doesn’t sleep anymore, and when she does, the dreams are almost never pleasant. 

If she’s lucky she dreams of her. Of blue eyes and soft smiles, of her sleeping face illuminated by the morning light.

_Scylla._

She stays silent, and hears the whispers of her conversation with Louise, it’s mostly Louise doing the talking, she knows where Scylla’s attention is, she can feel her eyes on her. She doesn’t check, afraid of being caught and then having to deal with the repercussions.

She curses herself for her weakness.

If she was strong…If she was strong she wouldn’t have left herself be used as a pawn.

“You were just a kid” a voice in her head says, it sounds like her mom and she hates it.

Sometimes she thinks about what her younger self would think of her if she could see her now. She never likes the answers. It wasn’t you, it wasn’t your choice, she reminds herself with a kindness that only seems to exists inside her mind.

The war did a number on her. She knows this. Abigail and Tally know. Sometimes she thinks Anacostia does too. She hopes Scylla won’t notice, but she knows it’s stupid to think she hasn’t already.

Scylla has always been a perceptive person. She used to love that about her, she thinks that if that was still there, she’d still love it. She could love all of Scylla again. It terrifies her, how sure she is of this one thing and nothing else.

When the plane lands she’s the first one out. She needs air, and she needs it fast. Abigail is standing by her car in full uniform, the usual neutral expression they drill into them during basic in her face, but her eyes soften when they land on her. She can probably read it in her eyes.

“Hey, shitbird” she speaks quietly and puts a hand on her shoulder. Abigail has become an expert on dealing with her, she hates it, how much she’s come to depend on her friend, but right now she’s thankful “It’s going to be alright”

She nods, and Abigail gives her a tight smile. Her attention has turned to a second car that just park next to hers. It’s black, with tinted windows, obviously a government vehicle. Scylla and Louise are walking out of the plane when the door of the car opens and a tall woman in uniform comes out. Abigail curses under her breath and Scylla comes to a stop next to them.

“Bellweather, I need to talk to you” she starts, but Abigail’s eyes are still glued to the older woman, she talking to Louise now. They seem friendly.

“That can wait, Necro. Now come with me” it’s an order, and despite how much she hates to be boss around by Abigail, she does follow her.

The woman notices them coming, she ends her conversation with Louise to greet Abigail with the world’s fakest smile.

“Major Bellweather”

“General Buttonwood” Abigail’s fake smile easily rivals the woman’s “I did not know you were in D.C”

Why does Buttonwood sounds familiar? And then it hits her. _Gerit._

“Well no one was supposed to know until tomorrow”

The woman smiles with delight and Raelle feels the dread build up, she does not like this woman. She reminds her of her first C.O after War College, when the unit was split and she was sent to a Combat Infantry battalion in south Sudan, she shudders and Scylla notices. She holds out her hand behind Abigail’s back, an offer.

Raelle takes her hand, breathing hard. Abigail keeps glaring at Buttonwoood.

“Know what?” Abigail asks, she’s weary.

“Well since you asked, I was just appointed Secretary of Witch Affairs by the President” she sounds so proud of herself, as if she knows something they don’t and she probably does.

“What does that mean exactly?” the question comes from Scylla, and when Buttonwood’s eyes fall on her there’s disgust written all over her face, she blinks, as if she’s trying to rid herself of the sight, and then her eyes fall on Raelle. No one has ever looked at her with so much hate. She refuses to coward behind those eyes.

“I think you should teach your…subordinates to better behave, Bellweather. Is this the team you’ve been campaigning for?” she laughs at them, and it’s a testament to how much Abigail has grown that her eyes on the woman never waver and she’s looks as composed as if she was discussing the weather.

“My team and I fought the war, General, and we won it” what she’s not saying is clear. Where were you in the war? Probably behind a desk.

“They are Spree scum”

Scylla grips on her hand. And Abigail seems thankful that neither one of them has talk back to the general.

“If I may, general…” she starts.

“You may not, Major. I will visit your office tomorrow to farther discuss this matter. I’m sure your mother will call you soon, you don’t want to miss that” she turns to leave, and Swythe looks apologetically at them before running behind the general.

Soon enough it’s just the three of them standing in the empty airport. Abigail is massaging her temple and cursing under her breath. Raelle moves away to give her space, she’ll come around when she’s ready. 

Scylla is quietly standing where she was when the General left and she seems to be looking in the direction the car disappeared into. Raelle is unsure of what to do, she wants to ask what’s going through her head, but she’s never been very good at dealing with the answers to the important questions.

But Scylla says so much more with her eyes, with her body than with words, and Raelle has seen and has been seen by Scylla enough to know that whatever she’s thinking of is important. She will tell her, she trusts that.

With nothing else to do, she lets her eyes linger on Scylla, if anything is so her mind won’t wander other darker paths, she tells herself. She’s turned away from her, so Raelle can only see her back. She’s reminded of the morning after Beltane and a small smile breaks through the barriers she has made for herself. 

It is not often that she remembers it, most of the time her brain gets foggy, and all she can see is the war and nothing beyond. But Beltane jumps out because it happened during the war. It was after Sudan and Colonel Harding, she was already this person. Scylla found her at her worst and most broken, and still took her in. Still held her through the night and kept the nightmares at bay. When she thinks back to that day, she holds onto the memory for as long as possible, she lets it carry her through the hard days and lull her to sleep.

Scylla catches her staring and starts right back. It feels weirdly intimate, but she can’t bring herself to look away. She thinks they could stay standing here forever if someone doesn’t stop them.

Luckily Abigail has finally calm herself down.

“We should probably head back” her voice breaks the moment.

“To the base?” Scylla inquires.

“I mean, I can drop you off, but I feel like we need to talk and I don't know if base is the best place for that right now. I have a house here, you cab stay with me. We’re a team, and after that…thing with General Buttonwood, we need to be ready for tomorrow”

Raelle nods. She can do this. The war was a horrible experience, but it kept her busy, always doing something, it made ignoring the memories a lot easier. 

But since the war ended she has been unable to stop thinking. The memories always catch her when she thinks she’s fine, when she starts to feel like her old self again and they leave her on her knees, fighting for air.

She can’t let this happen to anyone else.

And now she has a chance to do something, she can put all her focus on this one mission. Whatever Swythe and Buttonwood and whoever else are planning, whatever it takes to make sure no one else has to live what she did, what Abigail and Tally, and Scylla too, have gone through. So no one else has to die or be haunted by the memories.

“Let’s do this”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Petra calls and Abigail explains what the team was suppose to do

Abigail’s house is exactly what Scylla imagined. She is sure that if she was to walk around she’d find there’s a chandelier in every room and she immediately feels out of place. Luckily she is too busy with everything going on to dwell on it.

Raelle doesn't look too shocked by the house, but then again, she hasn't look much like anything in all the time that Scylla has seen her since she got on the plane. She tells herself its 'cause she's probably tired. But she doesn't fully believe it. She knows there's more. She caughts herself again wanting to reach out again, to ask, to find a way to make it better.

She quietly folows after Bellweather instead.

Abigail leads them to the kitchen and offers them something to drink. Once everyone has had their teas and water they sit down.

“So I have been wondering all day, what is this team supposed to do?” she asks as casually as possible given the circumstances.

From the corner of her eye she sees Raelle nod. Abigail sighs, she looks tired and defeated “I asked the council to form this team to help with the transition for witches going into civilian life. There are no laws, no precedents for it, it’s why the government decided to create the position of Secretary of Witch Affairs. It was meant to go to a civilian witch and we were going to be the link from the army working with the Secretary. But I don’t know now”

“So that general taking the position, what does it mean for us?” she insists. She needs answers, she didn’t stick around to get thrown into another stupid war “I want nothing with whatever power play the generals have going”

“Neither do I!” as soon as the words leave her mouth, Abigail seems to regret her outburst “I’m sorry, I just…The three of us, we’ve seen some shit, yeah, but we survived. Not everyone was so lucky, so many died, and they each were a whole person, a whole life, families, kids, parents, siblings, and all they get is a flag and a thank you. And now, maybe conscription is over, but someone needs to fight for the future generations. The army is gone but we need to make the world safe for our kind, for the little girls and boys, so they never have to fight the world ‘cause they’re different, and for the ones who died, so it wasn’t for nothing. I’m going to fight for them, whatever it takes”

Scylla nods. She knows Abigail means every word that she says, there’s a deep conviction in her voice. It’s the way the war changes people, she has notice this in other veterans, in herself. It’s more than the realization of the injustice of the world, it’s deeper. The army tries to turn it all into numbers, the ones we lost and the ones they lost. But soldiers are not numbers, they are complex beings and their deaths change the world. And you don’t know that until it happens to you. She learned it early on with her parents, and she kept on being reminded at every turn, in Fort Salem’s dungeon when they took her freedom so easily as if she never had it, and when she lost her team, her second family.

For the first time since she knows her, Scylla can see common ground with Abigail. Her alliance doesn’t seem to be with the army anymore. If she sees the army as a means to an end, like Scylla does, then maybe they can work together.

“Buttonwood didn’t seem very fond of us” Raelle speaks quietly, she looks up to catch Scylla’s eyes, before turning her attention to Abigail “Scylla and me. She called us…spree scum”

“Rae…”

Scylla suddenly feels like she’s intruding, Raelle and Abigail are staring at each other, eyes locked on a silent conversation. Abigail finally sighs.

“There’s been some talking, since the war ended, many officers feel that it’s not fair that the spree leaders were pardoned. It grew into a whole movement within the army” she admits “Soldiers are unhappy with how things were handled on the Spree side, and well Scylla parading herself around in half a uniform is certainly not helping”

“Buttonwood called Raelle Spree scum too, though” Scylla insists, how could anyone think Raelle is spree?

“She was talking about my mom”

_Oh_. Willa. Scylla has not heard a word from her former leader since she was ordered to report to Bellweather a couple years into the war. She worked directly under the general since then, had gone through that stupid boot camp in Fort Saint James with a bunch of Spree operatives and soldiers, and stayed standing like a fool while they called everyone’s names to make the strike teams. Finally there were only four people standing in the room. Omega Team, she was sure Petra had skipped a few Greek letters just for the implications. She remembers Alder once call the Spree “agents of the end”, it seemed fitting. They were all Spree, disposable.

They had been deployed for their first mission two days after Beltane and had become the most successful team, despite Bellweather sending them to the most dangerous missions, probably with the hope they would die. They had renamed themselves Othala Team after their first mission, bonded over their common experience with losing their families to the army. Marion has sewn the rune into the inside of their jackets while they flew into the unknown.

The ringing of a phone alerts her that the conversation has gone on without her. Abigail stands up to get it.

“It’s my mom. I’ll put it on speaker, please behave” her eyes are fixed on Scylla as she sits back down and accepts the call “Mom. Buttonwood said you’d call”

“Oh, well, then I guess I don’t have to break the news about her appointment as Secretary” Petra sounds oddly relieved “I just heard, I was on a phone call with Quartermaine and Izadora, we were trying to figure out what's her play with this move-”

“You think she’s plotting something?” Abigail cuts her off. There’s an edge to her voice, she’s hoping Petra will say that it’s nothing, that they are not once again caught in crossfire.

“It would be stupid not to. She and Swythe have been pushing back the election of the new General for months and now suddenly she goes against the council and gets herself appointed Secretary of Witch Affairs” Petra is not the kind of person who gets nervous, but now she sounds like it. Scylla can imagine her pacing in her office “She’s going to leave her seat at the Council open, since there’s no one to fill her place, which means that for the first time since the council was formed when we meet again in a week and they call for the voting of a new General there is no outcome in which someone isn’t elected”

“Crap”

“Ramshorn” Petra sounds amused when she says her name, she hates it “Abigail, you forgot to mention I was on speaker. I’m glad that Ramshorn decided to join you. Collar too I heard. Quite the team if I may say”

“Buttonwood thinks we’re spree scum” she shots back and Abigail glares at her.

“To some extent we are” Raelle comments dryly “Why are you callin’, general? Since it wasn’t to break the news about Buttonwood” she sounds calm and collected, and she takes a sip of tea for more emphasis. Scylla can feel the worry coming of her in waves despite the effort to hide it. Abigail seems to feel it too, she eyes her friend with worried eyes.

“I’m calling, Captain Collar, because I recognize a threat when I see one and I think we can help each other”

“We are the only team in D.C and Abigail is your kid. You want us to do your dirty work” Scylla guesses, the pause that follows her words are enough for everyone to now she wasn’t too far off.

“Look, Buttonwood is bad news. She and Swythe are the leaders of a group of radicalized witches within the army, they were against the abolishment of conscription and hate the Spree, if she had enough power to get herself appointed in the first place, you don’t want to learn what she could do as Secretary” she makes a pause as if to draw more emphasis to her statement and when she speaks again her voice is softer, maternal “You are already in the crossfire, Abigail, everyone knows why you requested the team. They know that you want to ensure witches stay free, your team is made up of a former Spree spy and the child of the leader of the Spree and a human, the target is already on you. I’m only offering a way out”

“What are you are really offering, mom?” the way in which she says the word mom, catches Scylla's attention, she seems to be taken aback by her mother’s sudden affection. Scylla is suddenly terrified of Petra.

“Abigail…” there a warning on Raelle’s voice, like she too picked up on Abigail’s tone.

“Look, I get you don’t trust me, I’m a general and all that. But here’s the thing, you don’t have to like how I do things Abigail, but you have always known what I want. Swythe and Buttonwood you don’t know, but you can be sure as hell that is going to be bad, and they won’t spare you if you stand on their way. You don’t have to trust me, but you have to acknowledge that I’m the best ally you have right now”

“You’re still not telling us what is that you want” Scylla can smell the bullshit from a mile away and Abigail seems way too troubled by her mom’s words and the implications of everything to answer.

“Of course it’s you making the hard questions, Rams-”

“Yeah, yeah, save me the speech and answer the question, Petra” she can imagine the general fuming in her office, its making up for the crappy day she’s had.

“I want to be General of the Witch Army. You help me learn what Swythe and Buttonwood want and I’ll let you have your team. I will support what you’re doing, we will work together, can they offer you the same deal?”

“You can’t be general of the army if there’s no army, with no conscription people won’t join. With time they’ll just find somethin’ better to do” Raelle points out, her words are careful.

Petra quiets down on the other side of the line.

“Mom?” Abigail asks, the uncertainty is clear in her voice

“I will find a way to deal with that mater when I am General”

“Okay, not ominous or scary at all” Scylla mutters

Abigail looks between Raelle and Scylla holding her breath “If we do this, figure out what Buttonwoods and Swyhte are after, you have to do something for us”

“Abigail”

Both she and Raelle are suddenly on their feet. She can’t be seriously considering this? Petra is obviously bullshiting them, can’t she see that?

“What do you want Abigail?" 

“I want to choose the secretary, when we get rid of Buttonwood”

“Done. I’ll send you all the information tomorrow. Now go to bed, all of you, the meeting with Buttonwood is the most important thing, you need to make her trust you Abigail. Ramshorn please keep the sassiness to yourself. Goodbye”

The line goes silent ans Abigail let's herself fall back in her chair with a sigh.

“Abi what the fuck?”

“Yeah, Bellweather, so much for being a team!”

Abigail looks down at her closed fist over the table “I had to do it. We have to, I know my mom is not perfect, but I know her, okay? She has changed, when she thought I died… she’s different now. And she will keep her word”

“For you maybe! Scylla and I, when she has the chance se will get rid of us!" Raelle is angry, but there's fear too in her words, Scylla can see it in the way she holding herself upright, pretending to be brave.

“Rae, no, I will protect you, you know that! You’re my sister, my family and I won’t let her hurt you” Abigail too is on her feet and she reaches out to her friend, trying to reassure her.

Raelle seems still unsure, and she should be. Petra is trouble, but her eyes fall on Scylla and her whole expression changes “Scylla too. You can’t let her be hurt”

“Of course not” Abigail puts her hand on her shoulder and shakes her up a bit to get her to relax, it makes the corners of Raelle’s mouth lift in an almost smile “We do things together from now one, like a family. Scylla?”

_A family._

She had a family once. Twice. She’s not sure she can go through losing it all a third time. Fourth time. She remembers loosing Raelle, in the dungeon of Fort Salem and when she got news of her death in the rescue mission of the Tarim. She can’t go through that again, and maybe if she sticks around she has a better chance at keeping her alive.

Cause that’s what she wants. For Raelle to be alive and happy. And all witches too.

“You want me to be your…family?” she lifts a brow at Abigail, just because she has already decided to say yes doesn't mean she can't tease her.

Abigail looks disturbed for a second, and then reconsiders and offers her a mischievous smile “You can be an adoptive cousin”

Such a smartass “Okay then, cousin. Lead us into battle”

“You’re going be a terrific addition to the family, I can feel it” Abugail keeps up with her, an easy smile on her lips, she seems more relaxed already “Let’s go to bed, we have a meeting with Asswood tomorrow”

Raelle laughs lightly and covers her face with a hand “This is goin’ to be somethin’”

Scylla has barely heard Raelle speak in the five hours she has her back into her life, and the southern drawl catches her off guard. She forgot how endearing it is to hear her voice and to see her smile.

“Well lead us into the rooms we’re staying in then, Bellweather” she begins to walk towards the door she thinks is the one that lead out of the kitchen.

Abigail leads them into their rooms and as she lies in her bed, Scylla thinks that she’s going to take better care of this family than she did with the others.

Hopefully those stupid generals won't be too much trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it  
> Hit me up on tumblr @realbluedragon


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, a couple things I wanted to say:  
> I'm gonna be really busy this weeks so next chapter is going to be up around friday-sunday hopefully.  
> I've updated the tags w warnings, so play attention to that and be careful, I promise is nothing graffic but you never know.  
> Stay safe and I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

The meeting with Buttonwood goes as bad as it can go. The woman is so annoying and full of herself that is a surprise it took her this long to go into politics. They try to talk, Abigail mostly, tries to explain some of the things she wants to do as they work together to ensure that witches are treated fairly in human society, and are presented with the same opportunities in education and work.

Buttonwood seems to take pleasure in the suffering she’s putting Abigail through. Had Scylla not promised to behave she would have already made use of one the many off-canon seeds that Petra allowed the Intelligence operatives to use in the field. Oh, she’d love to show General Buttonwood her place.

The woman is relentless in her taunting and she doesn’t know when to stop. That is going to be her downfall, Scylla decides. She tunes out most of the caricature villain monologue, even Petra in her worst days knew better than to show her cards so easily. She hears bits and pieces, when a word or a tone catches her attention.

“All Spree are trouble, they should have been eradicated” her face is completely serious when the words leave her mouth, she starts at the three of them for a whole minute as if she was expecting for them to start clapping or something. They don’t.

Scylla forgets her intentions of using work, she’s going to punch her right on her stupid face.

“The army needs a leader with a fist of steel, we need to take back what was taken from us. Like Colonel Harding”

She fights so hard to keep herself from rolling her eyes. What the fuck is this woman on? Definitely not salva, Scylla wishes she had salva, she could fly out the window and away from this crazy, crazy person.

She remains sitting there though, stoic expression in place. Buttonwood will never know how her words affect her.

They leave the general’s office in silence. Louise smiles as they pass her desk and she's blatantly ignored. Abigail looks like she going to have a crisis, and she wouldn’t judge her for it. She’s kind of having a crisis herself. She’s curious as to how Raelle is keeping herself together with the amount of times Buttonwoods used her mother’s name as a curse word.

Abigail walks them back to the car, she has another meeting at the base and they have start going over whatever is on the two boxes from Petra that were delivered in the morning. Raelle gest in the car first and Abigail stops Scylla before she can follow.

“Thanks for keeping your cool in there. I know you hated it, hell, I did. So thank you, and also for wearing your full uniform this time”

Scylla smiles mischievous “Check this out, Major” she opens her uniform jacket to reveal the yellow t-shirt underneath that is definitely not a part of the uniform.

Abigail rolls her eyes “A bit too on the nose” she looks behind Scylla to the car and sighs “Can ask you a favor?”

“Sure thing, cousin” she jokes, she knows it probably going to be something serious, but she’s having a good time and is not yet ready to let that go.

“It’s about Raelle. She’s not okay, I’m sure you noticed” she did, she’s worried and Abigail is too if the way her eyes remain in the car is any clue “Buttonwood mention a Colonel Harding, she and Rae have history, she’s putting on a strong face but I’m worried. Be there for her, please”

“Always” is the truth. She will always be there for her, even if she isn’t what Raelle needs or wants. Not being there was never an option.

“I’ll try to be home before dinner”

_Home._

Scylla never really had a home, a place to feel safe and set down roots. She looks at Abigail to see that she’s smiling, like she knows what she said.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll go over Petra’s papers and work out a plan of action, and…I’ll keep an eye on Raelle”

Abigail lets her go after that, she can feel her cocky smile on her back and she hates her. War really fucked them up enough to make them be friendly. Fucking war. Now she has a cousin.

She doesn’t smile. But she wants too.

Raelle is silent the whole way back to the house, but when the car stops she’s out in a flash. Scylla thanks the driver and follows after her.

She doesn’t have to try to find her, as soon as she walks through the door she sees her. Raelle is leaning back against the wall pulling at her uniform jacket, fingers struggling to get the buttons off, her eyes are filled with unshed tears and she mumbling under her breath.

Scylla thinks her heart could break right here if it wasn’t already broken.

“I can’t…can’t get it off” she’s not talking to her, her voice sound desperate and Scylla has been wanting to reach out for what feels like forever, she can’t stay there and watch the woman she loves fall apart “I want it off...”

“Let me help” she gets rid of her own jacket in a hurry, and walks slowly towards her “Raelle, let me help”

Raelle stops moving, her hands fall to the sides and she stops mumbling. Her breathing is shaky and her eyes are unfocused, stormy blue, sad and broken. But she doesn’t say anything. Scylla takes that as her cue, and begins to unbutton the jacket. It takes a few seconds, and she pulls it off her shoulders letting it fall to the floor, the sound of medals hitting the floor breaks the silence. Raelle nods a couple times, and begins to relax, she sits down on the floor and Scylla does to, she puts some distance between them and keeps an eye on her.

Raelle breaths slowly, and she starts unbuttoning her white uniform shirt, she pulls at the collar with a sudden movement and Scylla’s begins to understand what might have cause this reaction.

There’s a set of scars that seem to go all the way around her neck. Pink angry lines, like thorns.

She isn’t sure how long it’s been when Raelle speaks. She touches her neck, fingers tracing the scars and sighs.

“’twas a partin’ gift from Colonel Harding” her voice is shaky and she closes her eyes when the words leave her mouth.

Scylla is petrified. She doesn’t know what to say, or do. She wants to find this Harding woman and hurt her real bad. She didn’t like her anyways, apparently was friends with Asswood. She wants to do something to take the pain away from her, she needs to do something ‘cause Raelle certainly doesn’t deserve any of the crap the army has given her.

“I served under her in south Sudan straight outta War College, we didn’t like each other, when I… when I left she promised she’d make me regret ever crossin’ her” she explains, voice monotone. She tells the story as if it didn’t happen to her, but Scylla can see the pain in every shaky breath she takes “Find her again in the campaign in the west, she came at me on the first night, everyone was sleepin’, I tried to leave and when I turned away from her she caught me with her scourge and pulled me down”

“By the neck?” she knows it’s the most stupid question but she can’t believe someone would be capable of such savagery. Against Raelle of all people. Raelle who is so kind and caring, who has been put through hell by the army and she still puts on her uniform and does her part.

Raelle nods “She let me out there to die. Tally found me in the morning. They let her get away with it, we were the heroes of the Sudanese campaign, and no one needed to know we weren’t picture perfect. Alder came to the camp the next day, gave me some stupid medals and made her colonel”

“The army is crawling with the worst kind of people” she tries to get her to look up and when she does, she puts everything she can't bring herself to say in other words “I’m glad you had your friends with you”

Raelle nods, seeming to catch on to what's not being said. Its too much and she looks away, her eyes land on her uniform jacket thrown on the floor “I should…we should change and check out those boxes, I’m sure Abi’s gonna want to know what’s in ‘em”

As she stands, Scylla can see the way she puts her walls back up, little by little. Until she is back to the stoic, unaffected army captain, war hero, Raelle Collar. She misses her Raelle immediately, it’s like a punch to the gut that she can’t recover from.

Raelle turns half way out of the room “Thank you…I’m glad you’re here too, Scylla”

Abigail comes late, but she brings along two boxes of pizza so she’s quickly forgiven. They eat in the living room, Scylla and Raelle had spent the day going over the many papers Petra send and had organized them in neat piles, each on about a particular subject, so as they dig into the pizza they explain their findings and plot their next move.

Abigail tells them about her second meeting, at the D.C base. The colonel in charge is being sent to take over in new outpost in the West Coast and since they are some of the highest ranking officers in the capital they are expected to receive the new commanding officer of the base in a week. Also Buttonwood decided to use the money from the budget to redecorate the office they were meant to be sharing so for the time being they’re working from home or base. It’s a lot to take in.

“She also assigned Lieutenant Swythe as her liaison to the team. She’s coming over tomorrow”

Scylla remembers her conversation with Louise on the plane, when she said General Swythe had send her to spy on Abigail’s team.

“Do you trust the lieutenant?” she asks Abigail, while casually looking at a folder in her hands.

“I don’t” Raelle puts down her water with too much strength and it spills over. Scylla passes her a napkin “Thanks. I don’t trust her. I read here somewhere that General Swythe was in charge of deployments in the war, and Lieutenant Swythe was never deployed. Even your mom couldn’t stop you from being deployed Abi, she could only control to some extent where you’d end up. Swythe never seeing battle is suspicious, both of her and the general. I don’t like it”

Scylla and Abigail share a look.

“I mean, you know me, I don’t like Swythe’s either. But we’re going to have to work with her anyways. At least for now” Abigail says as she puts down the folder in her hands and grabs another slice of pizza “How the plan coming along?”

“We learned Buttonwood was in charge of Internal Affairs during the war, which means she has dirt on everyone, probably how she got herself appointed Secretary" Scylla explains, she puts the last folder down, she's done for the day "And how she probably plans on getting Swythe to be General of the Army”

“Swythe would be a terrible general!” Abigail laughs, and she pokes Raelle with her foot to get her to laugh too “I’d quit the army if Swythe was general”

“She doesn’t look the part” Raelle agrees, a gentle smile on her lips “But there’s no one quiet general-y looking as Alder”

Scylla laughs too, she remembers how strong Alder’s persona was. She stood and walked as a general straight out of a history book, probably cause she was.

“No one does general as much as Alder” a knock on the door interrupts her and Abigail begins to stand, she stands up first and passes by her “I’ll get the door”

“Thanks”

She’s trying to figure out who could it be. They didn’t order anything and Petra’s not supposed to send anything. She opens the door ready to attack if needed.

Louise is at the door, smiling, why is she always smiling?

“Louise. Didn’t expected you until tomorrow” she finally says, when no words come out of the lieutenant.

“I brought General Buttonwood’s first proposals, she wanted your team to go over it and make notes on the changes you’d do. So we can discuss them tomorrow” she passes her the folder.

Scylla takes, its weightless. Buttonwood doesn’t strike her as the kind to pull a prank, but she’s not sure she’s going to like what she finds inside. She imagines, one page, and something like“let’s get conscription back” written on it. Why is Louise still here?

“Um, why are you still here?”

Louise doesn’t laugh. Scylla thinks she’s is the kind of person who would laugh at something like that. There’s something odd happening here, but she can’t quiet put her finger on it.

“The way over is under”

She can’t have heard that wrong. But she must have. She’s not…Louise isn’t Spree. She can’t be. There is no more Spree. And yet, she still there, waiting.

“The way out is in”

Finally Louise smiles, that stupid childish smile “Willa says hi”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always hit me up in tumblr @realbluedragon if u have any questions or name ideas!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, here's the new chapter, hope you like it!
> 
> Still got a lot of work so next chapter's probably gonna be around next friday too, but here you have a 4k words chapter that i intended to split into 2 but couldnt figure out where to cut... 
> 
> Enjoy!

_“The way over is under”_

_“The way out is in”_

_“Willa says hi”_

_The world stands still for a whole minute. What. The. Fuck._

_“I don’t believe you” she says, her voice is filled with doubt and she hates it._

_“You know it’s true, Scylla” Louise says so calmly it’s unsettling “I should go. We’ll talk when the time is right”_

It’s been three days and she can’t get it off her head. They’re starting to notice something is off with her. 

Louise skipped their first meeting, something about a last minute thing she had to do for Buttonwood, but Scylla knows is bullshit. When she does show up the next day she acts as if their conversation didn't happen.

Its unnerving. She can’t figure out what Louise’s plan is. What Willa’s plan is. The war is over, conscription is abolished and suddenly everyone who had an inch of power now wants it all. Really she shouldn’t be surprised the Spree is back. If only she could figure out what they are after.

In the meantime she sticks to the routine they are slowly building. They spend the first half of the day working with Louise, they’ve rejected every sorry excuse of a proposition Buttonwood sent and then she rejected theirs back, it’s a long game they’re playing. When Louise leaves they have lunch and go back to working with the information Petra sent them. The plan is to find a way inside Buttonwood’s office and see what they find, they’ll go from there. How are they going to go into her office? That’s the real question. But they keep plotting.

Abigail in civilian clothes is still a shocking sight, but she’s slowly accepting the fact that she was not born with the uniform already on and it grew with her.

When she tells Abigail, she laughs for a whole five minutes. Raelle enters the kitchen then, she looks exhausted and Abigail passes her a cup of coffee. She quietly walks out and they watch her go into the living room and pick the folder she had been reading

“I never asked you how she was after the meeting with Buttonwood” Abigail puts the milk back in the fridge and takes the sugar Scylla offers her “Tally and I are worried, but you know Raelle, she’ll never say she needs help”

Scylla thinks of what to say, but there is a lot in her head. Raelle, always, but also and a slightly more pressing matter, Louise is apparently Spree and working for Willa.

“It was… it was okay after. She told me about Harding, are you free to go hunt down a colonel this weekend?” she’s been thinking about that more than she’ll admit. Find Harding and hurt her, goddess knows there’s too many pieces of crap in the army, they won't miss this one.

Abigail shakes her head, as if she is trying to keep the memories away “Don’t tempt me. When Tally found her and they got Rae to the infirmary, I was out for murder, goddess knows shitbird's got that stupid rebelious thing about her, but Harding, I just... what she did was beyond fucked up, and everyone just covered for her, looked the other way. I hate Harding. One day we’ll make her pay”

She holds onto that promise to push away her thoughts every time she glances at the marred skin of Raelle’s neck. She’s slowly opening up more, Scylla thinks is because they’re away from the army and Buttonwood, the war is like a shadow that they never let linger for too long. With no uniforms, no ranks and a lot of paperwork is easy to pretend it’s not real. She knows ‘cause that what she’s doing.

When its 3 a.m and Abigail has fallen asleep with the folder in her hands, Scylla finds her eyes once again drifting to Raelle. She’s looking at her too.

Raelle abandons her folder and coffee cup in the table and stands up.

“I’m gonna take some air outside” she walks to the patio doors “You can come”

Scylla follows her without thinking. The air is cool outside and they stay quietly sitting by the pool. Scylla knows Raelle is watching her, she can feel her eyes on her. 

It’s such a bittersweet memory, she remembers so clearly all the times the lay side by side, and how no matter how late or early it was, Raelle always took a minute to just stare at her, she’d giggle when she was caught, never made an excuse, never needed too. Scylla loved the way Raelle’s eyes would always fall on her and stay there, it was a reminder that she was loved and desired. It made it so easy to betray the Spree, to turn her whole world upside down for a chance to have this girl, this woman, to look at her forever with so much love. She wanted it all, even now, she still wants everything with Raelle.

“You think very loudly”

She looks up with a tentative smile “I do. I’m just trying to enjoy this moment of peace, but… there’s a lot going on”

“It’s like the war never ended” Raelle observes quietly, she brings her knees up, closing into herself again.

“But it did” she holds her and out and after a second of hesitation Raelle takes it. Her hand is warm, and they both hold onto each other as if it’s the only thing keeping them afloat “The war is over”

“Sometimes it feels like I'm still there”

“I know” goddess, she knows. Some night is all she can think off, she feels Raelle eyes searching her own and looks up, she can’t stop herself “I wish I knew how to make it go away”

She doesn’t miss the way Raelle’s eyes shine with something unknown. It’s captivating, the more she looks the more she feels it’s something familiar. She doesn’t mind the way they keep getting caught into this staring contests, she gets a free pass at carefully observing her without being judged. It comforting in way. 

“I’m sorry” Raelle says suddenly, it takes her a great amount of strength to say that and Scylla is confused.

“What are you sorry for?”

“When I left you, back in Fort Salem. In the dungeon, when I said all those things. I wanted to hurt you ‘cause you hurt me. What I felt for you back then, it saved me, you saved me and to learn that it had all been a lie, I was broken” the words pour out of her like waves hitting the shore and when she stops talking they’re both crying “I’m so sorry, Scyl"

Scylla is not ready for it, and it hits her hard. She's been forcing herself not to think of their last meeting in the dungeon, she’s been pretending that it never happened and now Raelle made it real, and it hurts. She remembers how her words echoed in the walls of the empty dungeon as the girl she loved walk away from her. 

_“I chose you”_

It had not matter, she was gone. 

"I...You were kind to me the other day" Raelle starts again, her eyes keep searching for hers, she wants her too look at her when she speaks and Scylla does "You always were so kind to me, and I… I know its a lot. I'm a lot, but I wanted to apologize properly. You are a good person, Scylla, and I know that. I know who you are, and I trust you"

She smiles, cleaning the tears in her face with the back of her hand "Thank you"

Raelle nods, she seems happy to go back to the silence but she hasn't let go of her hand and Scylla feels the need to say something. 

In all the years of the war she only saw her twice, but she was always on her mind. She had a speech ready, so many things to say that had seem so important and now her brain is scrambling for words, just like in Beltane. 

“When I first saw you, when I first talk to you, I thought it was going to be so easy, I was a cocky asshole” Raelle chuckles and Scylla stops talking for a second to fully enjoy the way her face lights up, she never thought a silly thing like a this could have this much effect on her. Raelle rolls her eyes at her, when she notices what's happening and Scylla remembers she was saying something important “You threw me off, Raelle, obviously you still do.This past ten years have been horrendous, but I’m glad I took Anacostia’s offer and ended up here with you. Abigail too, of course, but, and I might sound presumptuous, I want to make things right between us this time. I’m sorry too, that I lied to you and hurt you. But I did loved you, I need you to know that part was real, I don’t think I will ever stop…”

She doesn't know what else to say to make it any clearer. But the look in Raelle's eyes says she gets it. And that's enough for now.

  
  
  


The morning light is the first thing she becomes aware of, it's on her face and she hates it. She doesn't remember leaving her window open and now that she thinks about it she doesn't remember going to bed. She opens her eyes and looks around, she’s still sitting on the lounge chair by the pool, Raelle is in the one next to hers and they both have blankets that were definitely not there last night. 

She’s still asleep. And Scylla lies on her side to observe her. Raelle looks relaxed, her hair is on face and she wants to reach out and move it away. She wants to stay here for a little longer, it’s been a long time since she woke up feeling this well rested, and it's definitely not due to the chair or sleeping outside, she one hundred percent sure its all due to being close to her. 

A little while later she hears the sliding doors open and looks up to find Abigail walking towards them with an annoyed expression. 

“We overslept” she says casually “Swythe Jr. is going to be here in twenty minutes and we overslept”

“You sound immensely calm about it”

“Well when you wake at five a.m alone and then proceed to find your shitbird sister and adoptive cousin asleep by the pool holding hands, you’ve seen it all, so…” 

“Thanks for the blanket” she ignores her comment and Abigail shakes her head.

“You should go shower, I’ll wake her up” 

Scylla looks at Raelle, still calmly asleep, she really doesn't want to leave, but Abigail is right, they should get ready for the day. 

“Yeah, okay, you’re right” she stands up and takes the blanket with her, she stops by the door and looks over her shoulder, Abigail seems like she expected her too.

“Go shower! I promise I won’t throw her into the pool to wake her up”

“Don’t do that!” 

“It would be like killing two birds with one stone, though” Abigail sits down in her chair and smiles sweetly “Shitbird gets a showers and wakes up. All in one”

Scylla rolls her eyes and walks away. She can hear Abigail laughing all the way to the bathroom. 

  
  


Louise is surprisingly on time. She goes to open the door while Abigail pours them all coffee. Raelle is still on the shower, Scylla missed her for a couple of minutes and she's kind of mad about it, she wanted to talk to her before Louise arrived, to see if their relationship has changed from the talk last night. 

“Good morning!” Louise greets her cheerfully, she sounds and looks like she’s been awake for hours, its annoying.

Scylla nods in greeting and moves from the door to let her in. Louise keeps giving her this looks like they share some special secret and she hates it. They do share a secret, but only ‘because she has not yet decided how smart of an idea is to tell Raelle her mom is back playing spy, also she’s pretty sure Abigail’s going to have trouble believing a Swythe would be Spree. Is not because she likes Louise or some stupid Spree loyalty shit.

Louise pisses her off and Scylla's not Spree. She has not seen or heard of them in years. The Spree can fuck off.

“Come in” she starts walking, Louise will follow, she’s like that “We’re in the kitchen, Abigail is making coffee”

In the kitchen, Abigail is done with the coffee and has moved on to making pancakes. She's a surprisingly capable cook and Scylla’s pretty sure if it was up to her and Raelle they would be starving. She barely looks up from what she’s doing when they walk in. 

“Morning, Major” Louise smiles, why does she smile all the time? Is not a Spree thing, she’d know if it was. 

“Good morning, Lieutenant. Had breakfast already?” she looks briefly over her shoulder to catch Louise nervously whisper no “Mm, grab a plate, Scylla pour her some coffee, will you?”

No. She doesn’t want Louise having breakfast with them. She’s Spree. Or working for Buttonwood, she’s not sure what to believe yet. Abigail lifts a brow at her in silent question. One of this days they’re going to develop silent communication. 

It's going to be be both glorious and terrifying.

"Fine" she passes next to Abigail to get to the cups and lightly shoves at her back. She's not going to pretend she okay with this.

"Don't be so juvenile, Necro" Abigail shoves back.

"Bite me, High Atlantic"

Abigail laughs, shaking her head as she goes back to her pancakes. It really is a shame they became friends-ish, she's lost her edge. As Scylla goes back around her to get to the coffee for fucking Louise, Abigail lift her head to whisper "We both know is not me you want that from"

Her answer dies in her lips the moment Raelle enters the kitchen in a white shirt and jeans, she’s massaging her scalp where she usually braids her hair and distractedly looking for something. She has not yet notice Louise, who’s eyes have gone wide and Scylla’s going to smack her, hard, if she doesn’t get her shit together. Where does Willa get her spies these days? 

“Hey, Abi, have you seen my…” Raelle finally looks up and sees the three women in the kitchen. Her right hand goes immediately to her uncovered neck and both Scylla and Abigail immediately realize what she’s looking for. 

She’s been using a red bandana tied around her neck like some sort of cowgirl whenever Louise is around, and as soon as the Lieutenant is out she rips it off and throws it around. Its both hot and problematic, ‘cause right now none of them knows where it when out flying yesterday and Louise is still standing there ogling at her like a teenager. 

So Scylla does smack her in the back of the head and Louise let’s out shriek as she dramatically falls to the floor. Fucking High Atlantics. 

Raelle’s laughter saves the moment and Louise stands up again, keeping her eyes firmly away from them. She looks like she wants to run away and Scylla thinks maybe she should. Abigail’s pancakes burn down and now there are two emergencies. 

Its apparently up to her to make sure no one dies today, and she quickly moves Abigail from the kitchen and pulls the pan away from the fire, she tries to remember where in the hell the bandana went and ends up grabbing at Raelle’s arm and dragging her out of the room. 

“Maybe you should stop throwing it around” she tells her as she looks around the couches, her words soften when she remembers the incident from three days ago “Are you okay?”

Raelle copies her, looking around the room “Yeah, I… was just shocked. It's not shame” she stops moving and Scylla looks up, Raelle looks like she wants to say something more. 

“People ask questions” Scylla says for her, is not a question and Raelle nods. 

She goes back to searching and pulls between the couch cushions, a second later lifts her hand holding the bandana “Found it”

Scylla shakes her head, but smiles and walks to her “Need a hand?”

Truth is she knows Raelle doesn’t. She’s completely capable of putting on the bandana on her own, but she’s not ready to go back to Abigail and Louise. Raelle eyes her carefully before giving her the bandana. 

"Yes, please"

She doesn't elaborate or try to give a reason why she needs help when she never did before. She just smiles shyly and let's Scylla tie the bandana around her neck. 

Maybe this is because of their talk, or simply because in all the time they were together they always found comfort in each other, in small touches and secret smiles, their relationship always was about the little details that only they knew and now, despite not really being anything, all those things are still there.

Raelle inhales when Scylla's hands touch her neck, but she doesn't flinch or pull away, if anything she gets closer. When she's done Scylla fixes the bandana over her shirt. Neither one moves, they've not been this close since Beltane. It's a lot. Raelle's hands find her shoulders and Scylla sighs, bringing their foreheads together. 

Fuck. She loves this woman.

She takes a quick step back "You look cute"

Raelle nods, she understands. Its too much, very real too.

"You look beautiful. You always do" she whispers the last part, it slips past her lips like an afterthought. She looks so much like the Raelle she remembers from Fort Salem.

"Let's go back, before High Atlantic comes for us" she leads the way, scared of what she might see if she keeps looking into Raelle's eyes.

Abigail doesn't look too pleased when they walk back in the kitchen. 

"Louise brought us our invitations for General Buttonwood's party" she informs them, her voice is neutral put its clear in her posture that she's already plotting how this fits on their plans "To celebrate her appointment. It's in three days"

Is too soon. Abigail knows, Raelle sharp intake of breath says she knows it too. Louise gives her that look again. 

"I feel like I screwed up your breakfast" her attention has turned to Abigail and she smiles kindly "Let me make it up to you, Major, I'll go buy some pastries. Maybe Sargeant Ramshorn can help me pick them?"

Abigail looks between them with curious eyes, she ignores it. She's starting to make out her own plan, it involves buying pastries with Louise.

"Yeah, I'll go. Let me grab a jacket and I'll meet you in the door" she walks out of the kitchen and Abigail follows, her footsteps echo in the hallway. She stops when she reaches her room "What do you want?"

"What the fuck are you playing at with Swythe?" 

"I still don't know" she turns around to face her, Abigail seems shocked that she's not denying it "I'm going to get some answers. We'll talk when I come back, cousin"

Abigail doesn't look all too happy, but she nods "When you come back, you'll tell me everything"

"Yes ma'am"

"Abigail" she insists "We're a family, I'm just Abigail. I'm trusting you here, Scylla, we all are" Raelle trust you, she doesn't need to say it, they both know "Don't make us regret it"

"I won't" it's a promise she intends to keep.

Abigail nods and walks away, she grabs her jacket and goes to find Louise.

"Let's go"

  
  


Scylla sits across from Louise in a booth, the coffee's gone cold and she's still not talking. She checks the clock on the wall, the pastries from the bakery across the streets should be ready in about ten minutes, and Louise refuses to make eye contact.

  
  


“The make the best pastries in all of D.C” Louise says, she looks up finally having find her courage.

  
  


“Okay" she takes a sip of cold coffee "Talk to me about the Spree” 

  
  


Louise sighs, she looks down at her hands “I’m going to tell you why I joined, so you’ll believe me”

  
  


“That’s not what I-”

  
  


“My mom fell in love with a civilian" she says it a rush and Scylla struggles for a minute to fully make sense of the words, Louise keeps her eyes away from her "They ran away together, she changed her name so she wouldn't be found” her voice is quiet, like she’s barely holding herself together “My grandma made it so people believed my mom died in battle, but she kept looking for us, hunting us down maybe a more accurate word. They found us when I was twelve, killed my dad, sent my mom to military prison, and sent me to boarding school. General Swythe only took me in after her daughter died, raised me to bring honor to the family, I’m the last of the Swythes, but I hate everything the name stands for”

  
  


Scylla wants to say she’s lying, but there too much raw emotion in her voice and her body language is very telling too. She could be a good liar, but Scylla’s not sure she wants to jump in just yet “The military police are beasts”

  
  


Louise nods "I met Willa in Fort Salem, she was in the infirmary helping around with the injured. She was worried for her daughter and I was alone a lot. We always run into each other and we’d talk for a bit, she always made sure to ask me how I was before going back to work. When the General was sent to D.C, she left me in charge of her office, Willa came to me and ask to go inside the office. She wanted to know where her daughter was, she had been deployed after graduating War College but they wouldn’t tell her where. She loves her, Captain Collar, I mean, Willa really loves her, and that love is what convinced me to join the Spree. If the love between my parents hadn’t been seen as wrong, they would be alive today, we'd be a family, that’s why I fight”

  
  


“Everything is different now” 

  
  


“Do you honestly believe that we’ll have any chance of really being free with someone like Buttonwood in charge of our wellbeing?" Louise is angry, and Scylla understands where's coming from. 

  
  


She keeps quiet, Louise is struggling to calm down and Scylla gets a glimpse at the very real pain in the lieutenant. 

  
  


“No. You’re right, Buttonwood’s not ideal” she acknowledges “But who do you propose? Why is the Spree back Louise?”

  
  


“Buttonwood needs to go, the army too, they’ve been corrupted by power, they don’t care about witches anymore” and there it is, the speech she’s heard so many times before. This is not Louise, this is the Spree “We do”

  
  


“Why did you tell me you were a spy from Swythe?” Scylla asks, she can’t bring herself to discuss how fundamentally wrong Louise is about everything, how the Spree that was supposed to fight for all witches leave her and so many more in the hands of the army to die. She’s not going to do that, she needs answers she can bring to the team and she’s needs Louise to say something she can use.

  
  


“My aunt did send me here, but my motivations are not the same as hers, I am Spree. We won't stop until there is total liberation. People like Buttonwoods stand in our way, they need to go”

  
  


Scylla thinks back to when she was younger. A Spree spy in the heart of the army, cocky, stupid, reckless, full of herself. She knows sometimes she still is. Is not a good look when it's looking back at her. 

  
  


“Why did you tell me that you were spying for Swythe? The real reason now”

  
  


“It was a test. I needed to know your true alliance. Willa said you might tell them, your team. Your feelings for Captain Collar already compromised you once before. But you didn't tell them, you still believe, don't you?”

  
  


“I don’t…” Scylla doesn’t know if she should be even telling her this “I’m not Spree. I didn’t tell them because I had no proof, and I don’t really know how good is going to be for Raelle to learn Willa’s playing spy again”

  
  


Louise sighs, she looks disappointed “Willa has a deal for you”

  
  


“Another deal! That’s a lot of offers for someone people keep calling scum.” 

  
  


Louise ignores her “We want Buttonwood out, if that’s what you’re after, the Spree has your back. No matter what”

  
  


“Goddess. I’m not making that decision alone. We’ll talk to the team. Let’s get those pastries you talked about and go back” she stands up and shakes Louise when she doesn't “C’mon, Lieutenant, we got to get the food and go back”

  
  


“What’s your plan?” Louise is trying really hard not to show she’s scared, but Scylla can see it, she was there once too. 

  
  


“You’re going to tell them what you told me and we’ll go from there” Scylla explains, she doesn’t want Louise to be scared for her life, she knows from experience that is no fun, so she tries to reassure her “We won’t hurt you”

  
  


“Okay...”

  
  


Scylla keeps them moving, they pick up the food and walk back to the house. When they reach the door she stops. Truth is she doesn’t really know what Abigail and Raelle’s reaction to this news is going to be, she can only hope by the goddess it all goes well. 

  
  


She opens the door and moves to let Louise in. She gives her a reassuring nod as they walk to the kitchen. 

  
  


Here goes nothing. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on tumblr @realbluedragon


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back and two days early!!!  
> Here's the new chapter, hope you enjoy it!  
> Gonna try to keep updating once a week, cause it has worked pretty will so far

Abigail is looking at her like she knows what she’s thinking. 

It’s very annoying. Because she usually does know. 

“You know this thing with Buttonwood, the party, Tally’s probably going to come to town” she finishes washing the disaster of the pancakes and sits down next to her, she pushes at her mug with her own “Rae, are you okay?”

“Yeah…I’m fine”

“Convincing, shitbird” Raelle hides her snarky answer behind her mug and Abigail laughs sitting back and sipping at her coffee “Tally is going to give you so much shit when she finds out about Necro”

“What about Scylla?”

Abigail snorts and puts her mug down “Really?” when Raelle only lifts a brow in answer she rolls her eyes “So the whole sleepy hand holding last night, that was part of the nothing with Scylla? And I see you find your stupid bandana and for once is not crooked, did you ask her to help you tie it up or did she offer?”

Raelle fights to keep her expression neutral but Abigail’s little smirk is as annoying as it ever was “We just talked. I… There’s a lot between us”

“You mean you love her?”

“Hey, fuck off”

“What? Did I touch a nerve?”

She did, and she knows it. But Abigail’s always been the only person who never accepted her bullshit. Tally with her big heart, was always there for her in the hardest days, and there were many, but it always took Abigail’s pushing and challenging her to get her to stand up and fight back when she felt she didn't have it in her to keep fighting. 

She’s her strength as much as Tally is her heart. 

“I’m a mess” she looks down at her closed fists on the table and forces herself to relax, to pull herself back up. 

Abigail sighs and for minute it seems like she’s going to leave, instead she puts her mug down and touches the tips of her hair “It’s dry already. Move so I can braid it” 

She does as told, when it comes to some things it's easier to not fight her. 

Abigail’s taken a liking to braiding her hair, it happened after the incident with Harding. She spent three weeks in the infirmary, slipping in and out of consciousness for the first couple of days and when she finally had the strength to stay awake long enough to get visits, Tally had come to see her and complemented her hair, braided on both sides of her head so it wouldn’t touch her neck, she had then inform her it had been Abigail, she had washed her hair of blood and dirt, and braid it so it wouldn't touch the injured skin. 

They never talk about it.

Instead she lets Abigail take care of her in this one way, and Abigail pretends it’s a burden she carries because Raelle is her sister. It works better when Tally is not there to call them out on their bullshit. 

“She’ll probably call soon” she says and Abigail keeps pulling at her hair every time she moves and inch “Tally I mean, as soon as she goes through her mail and finds the invitation. She told me when I visited her she’s been wantin’ to come for a while”

“Yeah, she misses us. Me more”

“I miss Scylla” it’s a whisper, she’s been thinking about it more and more the last couple of days, but it slips through her lips before she can stop herself.

Abigail pulls hard at her hair.

“Fuck. Abigail!”

“Sorry” Abigail doesn't sound sorry “I just, I think I heard you say you miss Necro” she doesn't answer and Abigail’s voice softens “What’s the big deal, Rae? You love her, she loves you, what’s really standing in your way?”

Raelle doesn't fight her. Abigail is right, she loves Scylla, and she thinks that Scylla feels the same way, she’s not always sure, but sometimes, like last night, she catches her looking at her like she’s the whole fucking world and she knows it's real. 

She thinks back to just a couple minutes ago when Scylla helped her tie her bandana, how her whole body awoke when her fingertips touched her skin and she needed to be closer. It was too much, too soon. 

She sighs. What is standing in their way?That’s the million dollar question. For the biggest part of the past ten years, Scylla has been both her love and her sorrow.

She had loved her, back when she was still in basic, she had fallen hard and fast, and it had ended just as quickly.

But as she took on her last breath in China, the only thing in her mind was that now she’d never get to see her again and it crushed her. The last thing she felt before she died was heartbreak and it was still there when she came back to life.

She had pushed it back when they returned to Fort Salem, the news of a cease-fire with the Spree had been a shock and a testament to how quick things were moving since the Camarilla had reappeared.

She was supposed to begin her studies at War College in a couple of days. She was fine, alive, and then Anacostia had come to find her and Abigail. 

The Witchbomb, Alder kept calling them, her biggest asset, she wanted them with her when she faced the Spree to sign the alliance.

A threat. A show of strength. Props.

The place of the meeting was a clearing in the woods surrounding the fort. A tent had been set up, Alder had made sure to really set the scene.

_“When the Spree leaders come in, you will stand behind me. Understood?”_

As if they had a choice. 

The smile on Alder’s face should have been the first signal. She had to have known.

She was expecting Scylla to show up, a cruel joke of destiny, maybe even a request by Alder, she was the kind of person to want to face the one that got away. But Willa she hadn’t expect.

She had to hold herself not to react. She could still feel all the emotions she went through in a second. Her mom was alive, she was here, she was Spree, a Spree leader, a terrorist, she had ordered the killing of civilians like her pop, she had made them bury an empty casket and broken their hearts. She was a monster. 

But she was also her mom and Raelle loved her mom…like she loved Scylla. Why did the Spree took everything from her?

She had stood there, unmoving, her mind was racing, but she could not run, she was like a prey at Alder’s mercy. 

And so was Willa.

She remembers Scylla running after her when the meeting was over. She had not looked back until a hand touch her shoulder and the world came crashing down at her feet.

_The touch awakened something in her, all the anger and heartbreak over Scylla, the pain over her mother's death and the betrayal of her reappearance, her hate for Alder and mind games, it all came pouring out. She hated the way it made her feel weak and broken “Why can’t you leave me alone? Can’t you see that I’m broken, Scylla? That standing there was killing me? And my mom! My mom…is Spree and you knew! How could you…?”_

_A lightning struck in the distance, and a second later the sounds of thunder echoed in the woods, she felt her emotions in the nature._

_She was losing control._

_Scylla’s hold on her shoulder tightened and the look in her eyes reminded her of her own brokenness. “I didn’t know… Raelle, I didn’t know…Please believe me”_

_It was a plea. A whisper in the darkness that called to the deepest parts of her soul, if she looked at her eyes in that moment she’d never let go. She’d believe whatever Scylla said and follow her to the ends of the world._

_She still loved her then, a love that burned her down, that consume her until there was nothing left of her. She couldn’t do that, wouldn’t do that._

_She pushed Scylla’s hand away and turned around. Every step she took ripped her heart to shreds, and the rain poured all around them._

_When she reached her room she was sobbing._

That was the last she saw of her for five long years.

She buried every memory of blue eyes and brown hair, of cocky smiles that spelled trouble, she forced herself to forget her and she almost succeeded. War College was hard and the war was harder. Her first deployment, in Sudan with Harding, left her wishing it was Scylla she saw when she closed her eyes, not the fire dancing over houses and tents, the people running, never fast enough to beat the flames.

When she saw her again it was just six months since she had returned to the States and she was barely coping.Tally and Abigail had stayed in Fort Salem, but the infantry in Fort Saint James needed fixers and she was one of the bests, so she had been shipped off to join her former drill sergeant just in time for Beltane. 

Anacostia had insisted she went to the celebrations.

When her eyes landed on Scylla she thought of home, of a safe haven. Peace in the eye of the storm. 

She didn't thought of the betrayal, or the heartbreak. When their eyes meet, there was an understanding between them. The war had changed things. The past was unimportant. They only had right now and right here.

She looked beautiful. Her eyes were bluer than in her dreams and her hair was longer, wavy and soft. She looked older, tired too. 

Her lips tasted like wine, alcohol and something fruity, whatever it was she wanted it. She wanted Scylla, needed to feel her in every inch of her skin. She needed her to want her despite her weakness and her broken mind. She wanted this one thing to not have changed when everything else did. 

But Scylla had changed. Her hands were shaking when she helped her out her shirt, and when she got ahold of her she didn’t let go, her touch was reverent, soft, like she was something precious to be kept safe. Maybe they both had been searching for something familiar and only ended up finding that everything was different, but still felt right. 

And that was just the thing, even when seeing her on the plane had been a shock, everything with Scylla felt right. It felt as if they could just pick up where they left off and that was terrifying. 

“There’s too much history” she finally brings herself to find answer Abigail’s question “I wanna be okay, I wanna not be broken...I know you an Tally worry, Anacostia too and my pop, and Scylla, she… she hurt me before, and I don’t wanna be hurt anymore, Abi, I don’t know if I can go through that shit again, after the war and” her hand goes nervously to her neck “After everythin' we’ve been through I just wanna be okay, and I want Scylla, I do, but I wanna be okay more. Do you think she’d understand that?”

Abigail's hands in her hair stop their movements, and Raelle turns around confused. She’s crying. 

“Why are you cryin’, Bellweather?” there’s a hint of humor in her voice and Abigail rolls her eyes as she pats the braids one last time. 

“Fuck you, Collar, I’m done with your hair anyways” she turns around to put their mugs in the sink, she speaks again from there “I’m happy your putting yourself first, and all that, about damn time, if you ask me”

“Anacostia said I was gonna age her prematurely”

Abigail laughs and finally brings herself to turn around “Yeah, but she’s pretty damn old already” there a hint of red in her eyes as she sits back down “If you tell anyone I cried, shitbird…”

Raelle laughs softly, it's easy with her. She knows she’s safe with Abigail. 

Everything is easier when it's just them, Abigail, and Tally too, they have gone through everything together, and even when they weren’t Raelle always knew they were thinking of her, finding a way to get back together. 

When she had come back from Sudan they had not been able to understand her silence, or the haunted look in her eyes, but they had not let her give up, Abigail had push and poke until she showed her she still had fire in her and Tally had stayed by her side day and night, never letting her forget she had people, a family who would never leave her side. 

They are her family. Her sisters. 

“They’re back” Abigail brings her back from her thoughts and she looks up just in time to catch Scylla and Louise enter the kitchen. 

Something is wrong. 

Its like instinct. She just knows. Scylla is acting distant. Even before their conversation last night, since after the meeting with Buttonwood, Scylla has always sought her out, a careful look here, a soft touch of her hand in passing, she's been letting her know she's around, but right now she's avoiding her eyes and it throws her off.

The way she carries herself is wrong too, she moves carelessly, her arms falling to her sides and when she sits down her jaw is clenched, and her brows furrowed. She’s too caught up on whatever is going on in her mind to notice all the way in which she’s giving so many clues to the storm inside herself. 

Abigail opens the pastries box with way more excitement than required, distracting her from her fixation on Scylla. 

“Eat, shitbird” she orders, and pushes her with her shoulder when she takes too long to react. 

She picks a pastry at random, a glazed donut, and leaves it in the napkin next to her tea, if only so Abigail won’t keep pushing at her to eat. When she looks she catches Scylla again, and is so strange to see her like this after the soft smiles and warm touches from before she left with Louise that she can’t help but push "What’s going on?”

Scylla sighs, slowly retreating from her thoughts and back into the real world, she tiredly massages her forehead as if to release some tension. It's too telling. 

Abigail puts her pastry down,getting a clear read of Scylla’s body language “Something you want to say, cousin?”

But Scylla doesn't answer, instead she turns to Louise.

“Tell them what you told me” her voice sounds calm, her whole demeanor is relaxed, but Raelle has spent to much time observing this woman, she can see through her facade and she knows Scylla is fighting to stay calm. 

“I don’t know...” Louise busies herself with a patry.

“Lieutenant Swythe” its not common for Abigail to pull rank on people, but she’s going all in now “Talk”

Louise looks legitimately scared now and Raelle begins to fear whatever she has to say. It's gonna be nothing good. 

“I’m Spree”

Raelle is on her feet in a second, her hands fly to her side where her scourge should be. She can see Abigail doing the same. Louise moves away and Scylla stands in front of her protectively. 

“Okay, let’s all calm down” she says every word in a slow even tone, it's almost as if she’s trying to convince herself. She looks straight at her, like she did last night when Raelle said she trusted her. 

Is not fair. This is the Spree. 

"Scylla…" she begins, she doesn't know what she wants to say, but Scylla looks like she understands the meaning of her plea. 

"Trust me. Please”

“Okay” she sits back down, trying to calm down enough to be able to hear what Louise has to say. Abigail sits back down too and for a couple of seconds they’re just four women sitting down to eat breakfast. 

If only it were that simple.

With some gentle pushing from Scylla, Louise begins talking. 

“I’m Spree, have been since my first year of basic, Willa send me here...”

“NO!” She doesn’t mean to react so harshly. But she can’t...it can’t be. Willa has left the Spree, she was pardoned and now she’s in the Cession with her pop. They’re working things out and she doesn't like it, but he was so happy when she saw him that she's been letting it go. Willa wouldn’t jeopardize that. 

But then again she used to think her momma would never join the Spree in the first place. 

Abigail takes her hand under the table and Scylla looks like she wants to reach out too. It's probably a good thing she doesn’t, Raelle doesn’t trust herself right now. 

“Go on” Abigail says, she keeps her voice leveled and strong, and Raelle is so happy to have her on her side because she doesn't think she could pull it off if it was up to her. 

Louise takes a deep breath before starting over “The Spree is not like it used to be, many left after conscription was abolished but the few that remain are strong. We have people in the army, in Buttonwood and Swythe’s faction too, that’s how we learned of their plan to bring back conscription...”

“They can’t do that” Abigail interrupts her, the hand that is not holding Raelle’s is closed in a fist over the table and it's a pretty obvious giveaway to the actual emotions going through her mind.

Louise doesn't answer, she just keeps talking “The plan was to start out chaos and pin it on Spree cells still fighting, force the hand of the government to bring conscription back and take advantage of the Council's lack of decision on a new General of the Army to take out the council and take the power. But that didn’t work out, General Bellweather started gaining recognition with her handling of diplomatic relationships and working with Scylla, a known former Spree operative as her right hand, it showed that Spree could be reformed and that relationships between the two could be beneficial to the witch community as a whole. So Buttonwood and my aunt moved to plan B”

“What is plan B?” Abigail remains calm, but she gripping on her hand hard. They’re so screwed.

“Buttonwood used dirt she had on the president to get herself appointed Secretary of Witch Affairs and she’s going to keep pushing for her people to get elected in key positions. Yesterday one half of the council agreed to the designation of Colonel Harding as the new head of Fort Alder here in D.C, the decisive vote was General L’Amara. If Buttonwood somehow has dirt on her, you can bet my aunt will be General of the Army by next week” Louise looks between them as if she’s trying to decide if she should say what comes next “They are going to make civilian life impossible for witches, force them back in the army. Like Alder use to say Fort Salem is a witches place”

A long pause follows her words. Raelle is trying really hard to understand what kind of person would hate their kind so much to go to such lengths to ensure they continue to be enslaved by the same people who used to hunt them down. There’s also the mention of Harding coming to D.C. She and Abigail might be on a competition of who grips on the other ones hand the hardest. 

“Colonel Harding is coming to D.C?” she asks after a couple of seconds. 

Louise seems confused as to why that is the one piece of information she’s decided to hold on too. 

“Yes, but the Spree has a plan”

“We want nothing with the Spree” Abigail says the last word with disdain.

“Tell them the other thing” Scylla says and her calmness and informal tone is starting to be really concerning, 

“Willa sent me to talk to you, to offer you a deal”

“Absolutely no!” she can’t help herself, Willa is suppose to be playing house with her pop, not doing Spree shit “No way, she can’t do that”

“The other Spree leaders have a plan to take out Buttonwood” Louise tries to explain herself, but at this point she might as well be talking to a wall. 

“She was pardoned, why...? Why would she do this?” she’s not really expecting anyone to answer, she’s mostly embarrassed by her outburst, but Louise doesn't know that. 

“She’s trying to protect you!” she pauses as if to let her words sink in. 

Abigail gives her a worried look. She wants to know if she’s okay to go on. She nods and Abigail turns to Louise to get her to continue. 

“The army already has their eyes on you, everyone knows about Major Bellweather’s team and what you wanted it for, even better your team is made of Captain Collar, daughter of Willa Collar, leader of the Spree during the war, pardoned by the government and hated by all, and Scylla Ramshorn, who somehow was Spree, then Army, then Spree again and now she’s a Sergeant in the Army” she might as well throw her hands in the air to add to her words, she looks between them hoping to see a spark of something, she doesn't find it “Don't you understand? You were set up, they’re going to throw you all under the bus the minute something goes wrong! General Bellweather put her career on the line to make this team happened, none of the other generals wanted it but she fought for it, you have to wonder why”

Abigail shakes her head, like she’s not gonna entertain the idea that her mom might be a part of a bigger conspiracy and they are pawns in someone else's game “What is the Spree plan to take out Buttonwood?”

“Kill her off, pin it on you” Louise says simply, and sips at her coffee as if she hasn't just told them that they’re gonna be screwed over by the fucking Spree “The official version will say the war made you volatile, unpredictable, so you killed her when she disagreed with your liberal views, I will confirm whatever they say. They’ll buy it, they already see you as dissidents. And we will keep fighting”

“Excuse me?” Abigail stands up, towering over Louise “You will do what?”

“Abigail, let her finish” Scylla stands up too “Louise, tell them about the deal”

“Wlla got the others to put their plans on hold to see if I could get you to work with us, you have to have some plan working out, I know you hate Buttonwood”

Abigail looks between the three of them, Scylla nods and Raelle does too. She licks her lips nervously, crosses her arms over her chest “Maybe”

“We can use that, we get info on what Buttonwood is doing and give it to you person inside the Council, get them to deal with her” Louise offers “And then we are done. The Spree will keep fighting, and you can go back to whatever you are doing”

It's not a bad plan. They can use someone inside Buttonwoods circle. But can they trust Louise? 

“How do we know we can trust you?” she asks Louise, she’s glaring at her, she can’t even look at her eyes. This person her mother’s been using and manipulating, she hates her. 

Louise seems out of words for the first time since she started talking. Abigail takes advantage of it.

"Let me link with you. See inside your head, and we'll work with you"

"I don't know if I want to do that" Louise's bravado is slowly slipping away.

"You want to work with us" Abigail points out.

"You need me! Not the other way around" 

Abigail looks between Raelle and Scylla "What do you say?”

Raelle looks at Louise for barely a second, she’s overcome with emotions. Her mother, Louise, Scylla’s odd behavior. Its too much “I can’t do this right now, I’ll trust your judgement”

Scylla looks conflicted and Raelle thinks of a world in which she wouldn't have to wonder what's going through her head. 

“I think you should let her link with you” Scylla tells Louise, the calmness she was exuding earlier has left her and she looks exhausted “It would make trusting you a lot easier”

Louise sighs, looks between them searching for something “Okay. I’ll do it”

“I’ll be outside” Scylla announces, and turns to leave. 

Raelle looks at Abigail, her friend nods and she goes after Scylla. 

She finds her in the patio. She sitting in the lounge chair like last night. Raelle makes sure to not startle her. 

“Hey” she announces herself and when Scylla doesn't ask her to leave she sits down in the chair across from her. 

Scylla looks up after a couple of minutes “Remember last night? Simpler times…”

She remember. Last night her mom was only a retired terrorist. 

“Do you believe her?” 

“She seems honest. But I don’t know what to believe” she looks away and remains quiet for a while, when she speaks again is only a whisper “I used to have fire in me”

She knows. She used to have fire in her too. She doesn’t know who she is without it, and she thinks Scylla must feel the same way too. Lost. 

“I don’t know who I am anymore” Scylla keeps talking “And everyone keeps throwing all this crap at me like I’m supposed to make something out of it, I… I just want peace, after everything...I don’t want to have to fight anymore”

“I get it” she does, she’s spend the last ten years fighting, she has hurt and been hurt. Not all her enemies were Camarilla, some of them wore the same uniform as her, took the same oath. She’s tired of not knowing who she can trust “We’ll get peace one day”

“Do you really believe that?” the question is quiet, filled with a vulnerability she has not seen in Scylla since her time in basic. It calls to something deep in her. 

“You promised, remember? We’ll runaway, leave our medals hanging on the door…”

“And tell the birds to sing our goodbyes” her smile is shy, guarded “Do you still want that?”

She pauses, and thinks of what to say “I want to be okay, you know?”

“I wanna be okay too”

Abigail comes find them, she clears her throat to get their attention and joins them by the pool. Raelle can see Louise sitting in the couch inside. 

“She told the truth, about Buttonwood’s plans and Willa being her contact with the Spree, at least” she clenches her jaw “I think we should consider working with her”

Scylla quickly covers her vulnerability before turning her attention to Abigail “I don’t trust the Spree, so if we’re going to do this, we should be careful, keep and eye on Louise and have a back up plan, just in case”

“Rae?”

She wants to say no. She wants it so bad. But she knows is futile, they need Louise’s help to get anywhere near Buttonwood’s office.

How the fuck did they end up here?

“Yeah, we already here, no? And we need Buttonwood out if we want to make good for witches” she sighs, fucking hell “If Louise is what it takes, I’m in”

Abigail nods, she looks inside the house at Louise, who looking at them with curiosity “So it's decided then, we’re doing this, at the party this saturday, with...their help”

“And me!”

All three of them turn with surprise towards the voice. 

Tally stands smiling broadly at the patio doors, Louise is standing behind her following the scene with interest

“Is no one going to tell what we’re doing?”

_Oh fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hit me up on tumblr @realbluegradon with ur questions, comments, name ideas, anything, literally anything :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the new chapter, its a 5k monster and I would cut it in half for u guys, but uh, i dont think you want that...  
> Anyways read on and i hope you enjoy it!!

Tally is just as Scylla remembers her, perhaps a little more mature. She said a little, and she stands by her words.

Her presence has an immediate effect in both her friends who meet her halfway to hug each other. 

Raelle is beaming. In that particular kind of joy that has her closing her eyes, dimples in full display. Scylla will never tire of the sight.

She feels slightly out of place. Their hug drags on, it's kind of cute if not annoying, 'cause she's still standing there unsure of what to do or if she should say something.

Tally lets go of her friends and her eyes land on her, her face immediately lights up as she turns to Raelle with wide eyes.

"Tal" there is an edge to Raelle's voice. It's a warning. Scylla thinks she knows what this is about.

"I think you left out some things on our last call" Tally says despite the attempts to deter her.

Scylla smiles despite the awkwardness of the situation. They're clearly talking about her, and Raelle's face is blushing adorably. 

It's a whole side of her Scylla has missed. 

Tally gives Scylla her full attention, smile still in place "Scylla Ramshorn"

One second she's being observed and the next strong arms wrap around her and Tally is hugging her. 

She slowly relaxes into the hug. Tally doesn't seem like she'll let go until she does. And it's nice to be hugged. So maybe she doesn't let go either.

She can feel Raelle’s eyes on her. 

"It's been far to long" Tally tells her when they separate.

Scylla agrees. It has been too long.The war went on for too long. And even before, she fucked up the most important thing and lost Raelle and the chance to be a part of this weird dysfunctional family she slowly starting to accept as her own.

Her cousin Abigail.

And her weird aunt Petra? 

Her maternal figure/ drinking buddy Anacostia.

And Raelle.

She knows what she wants Raelle to be.

"Since your here, I’m going to guess your with the good guys now?” Tally asks, she doesn't hide the humor in her voice, like this is some joke that Scylla is not a part of. 

“I always considered myself to be the good guy” her words are confident, she’s telling the truth and it makes Tally laugh “But, yeah, that’s the plan”

Tally beams and turn her head a bit to catch Raelle’s eye with a knowing smile.

“Okay” Abigail brings her hands together to call everyone’s attention, there’s a hint of a smile on her lips, like maybe she was enjoying Tally’s antics a little to much “We should go inside and deal with, you know...”

Louise. Of course, Louise is still there. She can see her through the living room windows, pretending not to look.

“Who is she?” Tally asks looking and Scylla is too distracted by the expression in Raelle’s face to answer. She looks like she’s trying to contain herself from saying something she shouldn't say. If she had to guess Scylla thinks is some stupid pun with Louise’s name. Raelle was not a fan of her before she learned she was Spree and working with her mom, she must hate her now. 

“That is Lieutenant Swythe” Abigail answers quickly “She’s...We are working with her”

“Oh, she’s Susan’s secretary” Tally says like it's obvious. 

And is not. By the look in everyone's face. Who the fuck is Susan?

“Who is...Susan?” Raelle asks, and Scylla can’t help the laughter that escapes her lips. 

Tally looks between them, stopping an extra second in Scylla, who tries to contain her laughter “General Buttonwood...Gerit’s mom?” 

“Oh, so that’s what the S stood for” Abigail says casually as they walk back into the house “I thought it was for Satan”

“I thought Salmonella” Raelle offers grinning. 

Scylla chuckles walking behind them, as she passes by her hand touches Raelle’s for a second, she wishes it was longer “I was going to say Saran wrap”

“And where does the W come from?” Abigail counters. 

“Middle name?”

Tally laughs, looking between them as if she knows something they don’t “Aw, you guys, you really are a team, bickering and all”

Abigail immediately stops walking and looks at her friend with a look mixed of disgust and betrayal.

“You say that like Scylla is not your cousin” Raelle’s serious expression lasts half a second. 

“Tell me shitbird, if you're my sister and she’s my cousin, what does that make the two of you?” she lift her eyebrows in questions and makes sure to include her in the conversation “Ramshorn?”

Scylla shakes her head and keeps walking. 

Tally’s effect on the rest of her former unit is very entertaining to watch. She makes them more relaxed, they seem younger, less tense, their smiles seem easier.

Raelle specially. 

Or maybe is because her eyes always seem to find her. And now she’s smiling like she doesn't have a worry in the world and Scylla wants to reach out and kiss her. She wants to keep that smile on her face forever. 

Louise speaks up then, breaking Scylla away from her thoughts.

“Excuse me, Major, I should get going. I have that meeting I told you about” the one with the Spree, yeah, Scylla’s sure none of them could forget if they tried. Teaming up with the Spree was definitely something they always dreamed of. Louise keeps talking despite the very obvious unreceptive audience “Just to be sure, we are agreed, on our plan of action?”

Can she be anymore vague. Tally definitely won’t wonder what is the meaning of THAT. She’s the worst spy Scylla’s ever come across. She doesn't hate her, like she suspects Raelle does, and Abigail to some extent, there’s too much of Louise she understands to hate her without hating herself too, but she can't understand her either. Scylla can’t trust the Spree anymore. 

Abigail looks between her and Raelle and they both nod. Not many options to choose from. 

“Yes, lieutenant, we’ll be in touch when we have a more put together plan”

“I’ll walk you out” she walks behind Louise, she might not like her, but she wants to make sure she’s okay after everything that has happened. 

Louise insists she’s fine, but she massages her head a little and Scylla knows she’s feeling the headache that comes from linking, for Abigail to have seen enough inside her head to believe her words, must have taken a lot of her energy. 

“Before you go, Louise, I have something to ask you”

Is something she's been thinking since Louise told them about being Spree and it solidified as she told them how screwed they were. She and the team will come up with the plan, and a backup too, but she needs more. They need a plan C, one that not even Abigail and Raelle know, just in case. 

“Oh...What?”

“You’re going to contact Willa, right?” Louise nods and her expression changes, like she knows where this is going “I need you to give her a message from me”

Louise nods again, and Scylla tells her. 

“Are you sure?” she asks, her eyes wide in surprise and her voice sounds worried.

Scylla nods, she can’t think of any other way “Yes, I’m sure”

* * *

When she goes back inside, she hears voices in the kitchen and walks in to learn that Tally has found her way to the wine cabinet and its pouring the expensive merlot in four glasses. 

“Is it not a bit early for wine?” Scylla asks, she’s wary of alcohol and its effect on people like them. 

Abigail rolls her eyes and pushes the glass towards her “Drink up, cousin, is never to early, nor too late for one last glass of good wine”

Raelle looks up at her choice of words, and the three of them share a somber look. It's a toast of sorts, so they'll drink to that. Tally's to busy with her own drink to notice their exchange. 

They move to the living room soon, Scylla follows behind them, her glass almost full. 

Abigail ordered pizza from that place that already knows their order ‘cause it basically all they’ve been eating and Scylla would be more concerned for their health if she hadn't been present for some of the training sessions Abigail and Raelle put each other trough. 

It's very...hard to miss.

They wait for the food talking about everything that comes to mind, Tally tells them about her new life in Boston, her work with the Buttonwood Foundation and the weekly dates she and Gerit go to, always finding new places on the city to surprise each other with.

She catches Raelle watching her way once or twice. Maybe she was looking at her too.

When she hears the doorbell she's the first one to stand up and leaves before anyone can stop her.

She pays the food and walks back into the kitchen slowly. She needs a minute to get her thoughts in order. 

This days has been a lot, it's not even 2 p.m and she already feels like it's been three years. 

Too much has happened. The Spree being back, Louise's plan. Willa being...fucking Willa. She has too many unresolved feelings towards the woman and Raelle must have them too.

And now Buttonwood's party. They need to get something big on her, something Petra can take to the Council and make then take action. 

If not they are screwed, either the Spree kills Buttonwood and puts it on them, or Buttonwood turns the tables on them and gets them thrown in prison or something. There are one million possibilities and only a few of them she can see playing out for them.

And she can see Abigail, a Bellweather getting away with most of anything. She knows Petra will protect her daughter, but her and Raelle, she can't see the same courtesies been extended their way. 

Which brings her back to her message to Willa, she doesn't trust the Spree, but there is one thing she’s never doubt, Willa loves her daughter. By the goddess, she hopes it works 'cause if not the future looks pretty bleak. The war changed many things, but this is not one of them. Traitors like her, Cessions like Raelle, they still amount to nothing, it doesn't matter if you’re a war hero or the reason why the war is over and the Camarilla defeated, when it really counts she’s still a nobody. They both are. And this is the bit she can’t deal with. She’s done her part, not for the army but for the witches, for the ones she called her family. Her team. She fought for them, and they fought for her, for other like them, and when her team died, they didn’t die for a superior cause, they died ‘cause someone sold them to the Camarilla and she knows it. 

When they were sent on that final mission in Spain they all knew something was off. It hadn’t been Petra who contact them with their final instructions, just some shaky voice at the other end of the line, stuttering through the instructions and sending them off to their deaths. They never made it past the doors. They stepped out of the car, dressed as tourists, mixed among the sea of actual tourists and yet the Camarilla found them in a second. They never stood a chance. 

She remembers waking up in a hard, cold floor and opening her eyes to an almost dark room. In the dim light she had found her teammates in a similar position to hers, locked down in individual cells around the circular room. The sound of combat boots in the hard floor still brings her chills. No. She shakes her head, willing the memories away. She picks the boxes of pizza again and walks back to the living room where the others are waiting. 

Just as she’s about to enter the living room she hears Tally say her name and stops. 

“Rae, it’s Scylla! How could you not say something? You love her”

Raelle groans and Abigail laughs. 

“I do” Raelle says a second later, it's a whisper and Scylla almost convinces herself she heard wrong. 

But then Tally speaks again, her voice is soft “But it’s hard. I get it. When Gerit and I got back together it was hard at first too. There was so much history between us, he hurt me and I hurt him too. But we both wanted it, so we worked it out. You will too”

“Maybe we will” Raelle says a second later. 

Scylla almost loses her grip on the pizza box she’s holding and counts to ten in her head before announcing her return. 

“I got the food”

Raelle sinks her glass in one go and her friends watch her with wide eyes. 

Maybe it's the fact that their future is uncertain, with everything going on with Buttonwood, but Tally and two glasses of wine make Raelle bolder.

Scylla sits between her and Abigail and busies herself eating her pizza but she can feel Raelle’s eyes unabashedly on her, and everytime she moves her hands touch her just for a second. She’s pretty sure her friends notice too, but they’re letting it play out. She wishes they would intervene. 

Soon enough Tally has to go. 

Scylla is relieved that she seems to have forgotten about the whole Buttonwood’s party thing, and breathes a sigh of relief when the redhead is out the door. 

Abigail excuses herself to take a nap. Wine in the day makes her cranky and she needs to lie down. If she nudges Raelle with purpose as she walks away, Scylla pretends not to have noticed. 

“I think I’m going to go over the papers Petra sent one more time” she says, at this point she’d do anything to get away ‘cause with they way Raelle is acting she doesn't think she’s going to last much more without kissing her. 

Raelle walks behind her, takes another wine bottle from the kitchen and joins her in the couch. 

“We might die by saturday” she says rather harshly “I don’t wanna have any regrets”

“What would-?” she stops herself before she can finish that thought “We are not going to die”

“You can’t promise that” 

She wishes she could “I… I know that. I do, but… If I learned anything this past few years is that you can’t go into something thinking you’re going to lose”

“I’m scared” Raelle says a second later.

Scylla knows she’s talking about the mission with Buttonwood, but she thinks, maybe hopes, that she’s talking about more. 

“I don’t wanna die...again” 

She remembers when she got word that Raelle had died in China. She had so many regrets then, and when she saw her again in the meeting with Alder to sign the alliance she was alive, yes, and filled with so much anger and fury that she couldn't contain. It broke her heart all over again. She had cause this beautiful girl so much pain, and she kept doing it. It was as if she couldn't stop. 

“I’m scared too” she admits after a minute.

She’s so scared. Of loosing her, of hurting her, of not being enough. She’s scared of what might happen to them if the plan doesn't work and if it does too.

Raelle passes her the wine bottle “Maybe you need this more than I do”

“I’m scared of what I might do if I drink to much too” 

Now Raelle moves to face her fully, her eyes are curious “What would you do?”

She shakes her head “How much wine have you had?”

“Half a bottle, still can hold my alcohol, Scylla” she gets closer, Scylla can feel hear intake of breath in her skin “What would you do?”

“I might kiss you” she admits. 

Raelle nods, sitting back down, she uncorks the wine and drinks straight from the bottle. The image does things to her brain. 

“Drink” she passes her the bottle and without thinking Scylla does. 

She needs something to distract her from the world that seems to be shifting on its axis under her, and this beautiful woman who has always been in her mind, but here in the flesh, a centimetre away, it's the most captivating thing she’s ever seen. 

Raelle’s eyes never leave her. 

She puts the bottle in the table and when she sits back down Raelle clears her throat “I...I’ll leave you to your work”

Raelle stands up to leave and as she sees her walk away Scylla thinks about how different their lives could be if only they were brave enough when it mattered.

Scylla focuses on the work in the following days, Louise calls in to let them now she won’t be going to the house until saturday morning, Buttonwood put her in charge of making sure the party goes perfectly, so they spend most of the next day and the one after that, when Tally cancels their dinner plans, working out a plan. 

Louise sends a cadet with all the information of the party the morning after their agreement and they go over it while they eat breakfast. 

The party will be held in the office, recently redecorated thanks to Buttonwood great use of budget money. All members of the council were invited, but Petra told them when they called that she doesn't know if she’ll go and neither does Anacostia who had a very strong discussion with Izadora, who will be in attendance. 

Colonel Harding is also going to be there and Raelle tries to keep her face neutral when they go over the list, but both Scylla and Abigail see through her facade. They have a pretty solid plan by friday night. Abigail scribbles notes in her notebook while they go through different scenarios. And Raelle, who has been quiet for the most part plays with a pencil in her hands, Scylla starts again.

“We know from the notes Louise sent that Buttonwood is supposed to give her speech at 8, the President's Chief of Staff is supposed to give his speech before her, and by his notes he will talk for about ten minutes” she feels like she’s repeated this at least one thousand times “Buttonwood has been working on her speech with Louise, who is in charge of keeping it for her. So Louise will leave the notes in the general’s office and when Buttonwood asks for them, it will create and excuse for her to go into the office”

“We need to make sure we’re seen in the party” Raelle interrupts her “So it doesn’t look suspicious”

“Tally will be there so it won’t be hard to mingle” Abigail points out “The place is going to be filled with High Atlantics, everyone who is somebody in the growing witch community of D.C. Raelle’s not going to have a problem, every single High Atlantic woman under thirty will be fighting for her attention, it's you I’m worried about. You will stand out”

There are several points Scylla would like to have more information on, all those rich women fawning over Raelle for example, but she chooses to focus on the plan for the time being “‘Cause I used to be Spree”

Abigail nods “We need to make sure you are always seen in the party, if Buttonwood loses sight of your for a second she will suspect”

“So I’ll keep lookout” she hides her disappointment “We are one person short again”

“How come?” Raelle asks, she’s been keeping her distance since their conversation, but her eyes have been following Scylla around. Right now she is looking at her with eyes filled with something more, she takes a sip of her wine before continue to talk “You will be lookout, Louise will get us into Buttonwood’s office and Abi and I will go in. What are we missing?”

“Don’t you see it?, Buttonwood wil have eyes on me ‘cause I used to be Spree, Abigail is a Bellweather, and well she’s tall too, she’s pretty hard to miss, and even if she wasn’t, she’s the leader of the team working with the Secretary, an-d” she clears her throat, trying to play it down “Even with all that attention she can’t wait to get rid of Raelle will have eyes on her too, Harding’s going to be at the party. We need a diversion, I stay at the party, make sure Buttonwood stays put, but we need Raelle to distract Harding, and for all of this to work we need one very important thing”

“What?” Abigail asks exasperated, she has quit her attempt at taking notes.

Scylla knows what she’s about to say will not be well received, but she’s been thinking about this for a while now, since Tally showed up and literally asked to a part of their mission. So maybe she didn't know what the mission was, but if Scylla knows something about Tally Craven is that she is loyal to her family and always does what’s right. 

“We need eyes”

She counts in head how many seconds it takes to her teammates to get what she’s trying to say. Twelve, that how far she gets before Abigail is on her feet, the notebook throw to the floor in her hurry. 

“You don’t mean-? You can’t-.No”

“You know she will say yes Abigail. This is the right thing to do, you know that and so will she” she tries to reason, she’s surprised Raelle is sitting this one out. 

“No, absolutely no!” Abigail turns to Raelle for support. 

“Don’t you think that it should be her decision?” Scylla insists, she stands up to face her. Abigail might be taller but she’s not about to let herself be shut down “We are a team, you said it yourself, no bosses, we’re a family, and I’m telling you cousin, we need Tally and she deserves to make that decision herself”

Abigail sighs and sits back down “Scylla, she got out. You heard her, she’s happy, she has a good life. You are asking us to drag her back in to fight another war that we have no certainty we can win. This thing we’re doing, all three of us, Louise too, we are members of the army conspiring with a terrorist organization to bring down a General, the Secretary of Witch Affairs, no less, is treason, If we’re caught we won’t get away with it. Not a Bellweather like me, not war heroes like you, and maybe I’m willing to die for this, because I believe in it, but she got out!"

“I don’t wanna die, Abi” Raelle finally talks, she’s looking down at her hands that she’s nervously playing with in her lap “I wanna see my pop again. I wanna walk with him around the woods in Chippewa Cession and look for the perfect flowers for a pretty girl like he taught me. I wanna have a life outside the army that makes him proud. We all have lives, we all have plans, but when the fight calls, we answer, ‘cause we’re soldiers and we fight so other don’t have too, Tally’s like that too”

Scylla keeps quiet, Raelle eyes her for a second before looking away. Abigail sighs. 

“I don’t-. Someone else call her” she walks out of the room. 

When Abigail is out of earshot, Raelle speaks again “I’ll call her. But this...this needs to work, Scylla"

“I know” she does, they are putting everything on the line here. They can't afford to lose "I know”

When she looks up Raelle’s eyes on her is filled with many emotions. She thinks about their conversation the other day, how Raelle hadn’t straight out rejected the idea of Scylla kissing her. 

She’s startled by the sound of the doorbell. When her eyes find Raelle’s again is with a clear question. 

“We aren’t expecting anyone that I know of” Raelle answers as she stands up “I’ll go see who it is, try to clean up here just in case”

As she leaves to get the door, Abigail walks in and makes no questions as she helps her clean the scattered papers on the small table.

“I’m sorry, about how i reacted” Abigail says as she arranges the papers in a neat pile “I know you are right, Scylla, but I’m scared, they are my family, you’re too. I’m suppose to be a leader, but maybe I don’t have it in me anymore, to lead, to keep losing people”

Scylla sighs, she gets it, she was a leader once too and she lost it all. She wishes she had the strength to talk about it, to say their names, if only to keep a part of them alive, but she can’t, she’s not sure she ever will. 

“I get it. But sometimes part of been a leader is letting your people choose what they’re willing to risk” if they’re willing to die for the cause, for you. 

_“Take me!” when Marion looked into the eyes of the man, she didn’t waver “Not her, take me”_

_Scylla couldn't do more than watch as they dragged her away, she catch her eyes for a second and Marion nodded with her head, in that way she always did to say “keep fighting”_

_And she did._

Abigail nods slowly, as if she’s taking in her words “Easier said than done”

She knows, she fucking knows. Raelle walks back in before she can answer, Tally is behind her. 

“Hey, guys” she greets casually, with a small smile. Too contained for Tally. 

Abigail can tell too “What are you doing here, Tal?”

“Had dinner with Susan” she sits down, playing little attention to the very incriminating papers on the table next to her, she takes Raelle’s abandoned wine glass “She didn’t take very well to the news…”

“What news?” Raelle asks cautious.

“Gerit and I...we got married last week”

“Oh”

Oh indeed. She’s not much to surprised by the news, but her friends certainly are. 

“Congratulations” she offers Tally an honest smile and the redhead smiles thankful. 

“She intended for Gerit and I to enter a five-year arrangement and then move on, she was pretty pissed, called me some very awful things. Gerit is with her now, trying to calm her down”

Raelle recovers a second before Abigail and puts a hand on her friends shoulder “I’m so sorry, Tal. I’m happy for you and Gerit”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys before, I was afraid you’d be mad”

“I forgive you” Abigail hugs her friend “But your letting me throw you a party, High Atlantic style. We’re going to make Buttonwood so mad”

“Will there be lobster at this party?” Scylla asks trying to ease the tension. 

Abigail looks up and rolls her eyes at her “Yeah, we’ll have lobster!”

Tally’s laughter breaks the seriousness in Abigail’s face.

Scylla takes a minute to observe the image in front of her. Their easy smiles, arms around each other, the way the just fit together. She used to have something like this. 

She clears her throat before her thought get carried away “Tally, since you are here, there’s something we should tell you too…”

Is surprisingly easy to get Tally to accept. Once Scylla has explain their plan and the reasons behind it, she doesn’t even doubt when she says yes. They go over the plan all over again, this time including her and soon enough it's midnight and everyone’s falling asleep. 

Abigail’s the first one to stand up, she stretches for a couple seconds before speaking “We should go to bed, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, we need to be ready”

“I’ll stay here, if you don’t mind” Tally stands up too, and Abigail nods giving her another hug. 

“Call Gerit to let him know you’re staying here and I’ll show you to the guest room”

Raelle stretches a little and drinks the last of her wine, she passes by Scylla and looks over her shoulder, Abigail and Tally are busy talking, not playing attention to them. She opens her mouth to say something, but stops short. 

Instead she brushes Scylla’s cheek with the tips of her fingers, she stops at her jaw, and looks deep into her eyes, they stay like that for what feels like forever. 

“Goodnight” she says too soon and Scylla watches her walk away. 

  
She waits until everyone’s gone to bed to make her way to her room, the house is quiet and she’s thinking of a way to not think. This last couple of days have been demanding, and tomorrow is going to be worse. She has to stop herself from getting a wine bottle from the kitchen to force her thoughts away, she reminds herself that she’s had two glasses already and that’s where she draws the line. 

When she reaches the hallway of her room she finds Raelle sitting by her door. She looks up when she hears her coming and hurries to stand up. Scylla can see the wine bottle in her hands. 

So she wasn’t the only one with that idea. 

“What are you doing here, Raelle?” she doesn’t answer and as she gets next to her, Scylla can smell the alcohol in her breath “Are you drunk?”

“I wish I was, it takes more than some expensive wine” her eyes are firm on her as she shakes the unopened wine bottle, she gets even closer before speaking again “I wanna...I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but I know what I want right now”

“What do you want?” she asks, and in head she knows what she wants Raelle to say. 

“Kiss me”

She pushes her against the door as they lips meet. And she only been half living until this very moment. Raelle’s hands in her hair brings them even closer, she can feel her trying to dominate whatever is happening and Scylla has not waited years for this moment to go like this. 

Her mouth travels south before Raelle can stop her. She has always loved her neck, they way Raelle answers to her touch with her whole body, how her hands tangle and pull at her hair and at her clothes. 

Raelle moans as she arches into her and her head hits the door behind her hard.

Scylla becomes aware of her mouth on the scars and the woman in her arms hard breaths and break them apart. 

“Sorry”

“Why did you stop?”

“I don’t know” she admits.

“Then don’t stop”

She doesn’t. 

  
It isn't until much later that she stops to think about it. 

Raelle is lying on her side, eyes closed and breathing even. She has been asleep for a while, but Scylla can’t sleep. 

It weight down on her all of sudden, that she’s done it again. Her deal with Willa still stands and Raelle has no idea, she wonders briefly if this thing between them would have happened if she knew. 

She knows the answer, ‘cause she knows Raelle. She knows the way she feels with everything of her, she has felt her passion, in her touch, in the way that even know, asleep, she’s still holding her, keeping her safe. 

A tear escapes her grip on her emotions and she hurries to clean it away. She wants to cry, to run away, to take it all away. 

Raelle stirs, her grip on her waist tightens for a second before it relaxes, she opens one eyes first and then the other, she looks at her with a look of adoration that used to steal her breath away, now its a punch to the gut. 

“Can’t sleep, beautiful?”

“Got a lot in my head” she whispers back. 

Raelle shimmies a little to get closer to her face and kisses her cheek, then her jaw. 

“Do you wanna talk ‘bout it?”

“No, it’s okay, go back to sleep”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, Rae, it's okay. We both should sleep”

“Okay” she sighs against her neck and shimmies for a bit, trying to find the right position. Scylla follows her with tired eyes.

“Goodnight” Raelle tiredly whispers against her skin. 

Scylla takes a deep breath “Goodnight”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on tumblr @realbluedragon I love to hear from you guys!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, hope you like long chapters cos that's what your getting!
> 
> Anyways here the new chapter, have a good sunday!  
> (It is sunday for me anyways)

She wakes up slowly.

And the memories of the past day come slowly too.

Tally is married. Abigail is losing her mind. And Scylla…

Scylla is not in the bed. 

She sits up, bringing the sheet along with her. 

Scylla is sitting at her desk, her back turned to her. 

Raelle remembers many morning like this. Scylla reading and taking notes for her classes, sometimes she’d have a cup of tea, and would watch her carefully as she picked her clothes in a hurry to go back to Circe in time for inspection, some other times she’d be able to get her back in bed, and they’d stay together under the blankets, shutting down the outside world for a little longer. 

“Good morning”

Scylla’s soft voice brings her back from her thoughts, she has a small smile on her lips, but keeps her distance, as if she’s afraid Raelle will run away or regret the night they’ve shared. 

“Mornin’” she smiles too, taking notice of what Scylla is wearing “That’s my shirt”

Scylla looks down, a nervous smile playing in her lips “Yeah, I guess it is”

“Come back to bed, Scyl”

“Yeah, okay” she closes her notebook and stands up, she stops before reaching the bed to pick something from the floor, she offers Raelle the shirt she had on last night “Now it's a fair exchange” 

Raelle takes the shirt and puts it on, it smells like Scylla. 

“Do you think we should talk about it?” Scylla asks her as she lies down. 

She’s been thinking about it too “Tomorrow”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah, when we’ve put this thing behind us” 

You can’t going into something thinking you’re going to lose, Scylla had told her a couple days ago and it stuck with her. She doesn’t want to die, she wants so many things, she wants Scylla. And many morning like this. 

“Yeah, okay. Something to look for when this is all over” Scylla agrees, she takes her hand, interlacing their fingers together. 

Her eyes are on their joined hands, there’s a small smile on her lips, she looks happy. 

Raelle feels happy too, lighter than usual. This is the first time in a long while that she slept through the night and this feels like some sort of signal. 

“I...I just want to make sure that, uh, is it okay if I kiss you?" 

Scylla looks up from their hands, and her smile turns into a grin “Yeah, you can kiss me”

They both move at the same time, eager, their hands getting ahold of each other and their foreheads bump. 

She’s not sure who laughs first, but when Abigail marches into the room a second later they are laughing. 

"So there you two are" her tone is serious, like a disappointed relative, but the smile on her lips betrays her “And I am so thankful that you’re both decent. Breakfast is in twenty and Tally is leaving before Louise comes in an hour, so wrap it up!”

“Abi!” she too tries to remain serious, but her friend can see right through her. 

Abigail turns back to them, hands on her hips and one brow lifted “I’m sure you’re plenty charged and ready for battle, don’t fuck with my schedule shitbird, or you co...necro”

She closes the door behind herself and not a second later they can hear her shout. 

"TAL! You owe me 20 bucks!!”

Scylla falls back into bed laughing.

Raelle hasn’t see her like this in...well since Fort Salem, back before everything. She’s beautiful, all the time, but specially right here, with her walls down, laughing despite the raging storm inside her, inside all of them. She wants to stay here forever, inside this room where no harm can reach them. 

It's a beautiful fantasy. But a fantasy in the end. 

Scylla notices her change of demeanor and sits down “Come here”

Raelle does, she gets closer and Scylla cups her face in one hand, her fingers gently tracing her jaw, her touch is soft and tender.

“I’m happy here with you” she whispers “Are you?”

She nods, too overwhelmed by everything that Scylla is, what she’s doing to her head and her heart. 

“Let's be happy here, for a little longer, yeah?”

“Yeah”

Scylla lies them both back down. 

She holds her tight, and Scylla holds her tighter. 

It is as if their holding onto this moment of fleeting happiness as much as they’re holding onto each other. 

They’re going into battle in a couple of hours. She needs this. 

Something to hold onto.

The party is in full swing when they get there. 

Abigail pushes them through the entrance mumbling about how its all their fault they’re late. 

“Be on your best behaviour or I swear to the goddess…”

“Oh, calm down Bellweather” Scylla rolls her eyes “We are only here to party and eat expensive food we couldn't afford any other way” she holds for a beat, a group of high ranking officers pass by “The army pays us shit”

“Scylla!” 

Raelle grabs Scylla and pushes her away from Abigail “I’ll go find her some lobster, Abi, and I’ll meet you in a while”

“No go mingle, I’ll find you when Buttonwood wants to talk to us” her eyes move to Scylla “And you…”

“I’ll behave, goddess, if only so you don’t die on us, I don’t think Petra would allow us to stay over at Chateau Bellweather if you weren’t there, I’m also planning on using your name to get away with a shit ton of petty offences”

Abigail looks afronted and Raelle puts a hand on her shoulder in support “I’m taking her away now”

“Love you Bells” Scylla says as they walk away. 

“Why are you giving her so much shit?” she asks her as they walk into the actual party. 

The office space she remembers from a couple days ago is gone, instead they’re in an elegantly decorated wide room, waiters dress in black go around offering champagne and the room is filled with army officers and people dress in fancy clothes. Scylla snatches two glasses of champagne from a passing tray and offers her one. 

“Have a drink” she looks around the room with feigned interest “Abigail needs to get the st...she needs to relax, we got this”

“We do?”

“Confidence is key, Captain Collar” she smiles, that beautiful cocky smile as she plays with the medals on her jacket, finally she fixes the collar, her hands stay on her for an extra beat and when she let’s go she’s looking at something over Raelle’s shoulder “Here come your high atlantics”

“Who?”

And she turns just in time to catch the incoming group, she grunts “Ugh, they’re like the plague”

“Well now I definitely want to stay” 

Raelle pushes her away “Go mingle, Scyl”

“No, no, I want to meet these lovely women” and before she can convince her otherwise the three girls reach them. 

They greet her with broad smiles and she can see Scylla carefully observing them from next to her. 

“Miss Treefine, Lieutenant Harding, Lieutenant Ashford, its, uh, it's good to see you again” 

“I’m Scylla” Scylla interjects and Raelle hides her smile behind her champagne glass. 

“Oh, yeah, this is my, uh... “ she’s sure her pause is not helping out, but also she doesn’t really know how to define their relationship, they’re certainly not friends “This is Sergeant Ramshorn”

The three women barely glance at Scylla. 

“We were hoping you’d be here” Lieutenant Ashford says “You look splendid as always in your uniform, blue really suits you, Raelle”

The other two women stare at Ashford in shock, Raelle too is surprised. Ashford has always been a bit rebellious. It made her interesting in the beginning, different from all the other rule following High Atlantics, but it has gotten old as of late. The younger witch seems to think that because it worked for her once, it will work again. Honestly Raelle still questions why she let it happen with Ashford. But with Scylla standing here though, it's pretty easy to figure out the answer, dark hair and trouble, as Tally would say. Ashford had a spark, but Scylla is fire. Raelle always wanted to let it consume her. 

“That would be Captain Collar to you” Scylla interjects once again, back straight, voice even, her eyes are set on Ashford. She sounds like a leader, Raelle can imagine her commanding a room, giving orders, Ashford too gets the idea. 

“I, uh, I’m sorry ma’am” she scurries away before any more can be said. 

Treefine and Harding are left standing, and they look between Scylla and her.

“So...you two are...?” Treefine tries. 

“Teammates!” Tally supplies, she comes out of nowhere and saves them from having to figure out an answer, she hugs Scylla, who is slowly becoming accustomed to her attacks, and then Raelle.

Gerit comes a step behind her, in a three piece suit matching Tally’s gown, he smiles as he waves awkwardly “Hey!”

Tally smile grows “Scylla, have you meet Gerit yet?”

“No she hasn’t” Raelle says and Scylla rolls her eyes.

“You must come with us then” Tally grabs one of Scylla’s hands before she can put up a fight “I have so much to tell you”

Raelle takes her free hand “Go mingle, beautiful”

Scylla’s reluctantly accepts her destiny “I’ll find you”

“I’m counting on it”

“Aw, you two!” Tally's tone is filled with excitment.

“Oh, you two…?” Gerit points between them with wide eyes, there’s a gentle smile on his lips “Oh...That’s grea...”

Scylla drags them both away, she gives Raelle one last look and mouths “I will make you pay”

“So Captain Collar care to dance?” Lieutenant Harding asks when she returns her attention back to the women, there’s a hint of nervousness in her voice and she can see the slight red on her cheeks. 

Mingle, Abigail had said, be seen around the party. Keep Colonel Harding’s eyes on you, Scylla had told her earlier. 

“Gladly” she extends her hand for the younger witch to take “But you should know I like to lead”

“I want the next one” Treefine says excitedly and Raelle remembers fondly of a Treefine that hated her back in Basic. She works in the Archive at Fort Salem now, and no one is running after her. She was not even invited to the most important party of the year in the Witch Community. 

She kind of wants to go see her now, shove on her face how far her christo-pagan Work got her. 

Is stupid really, she went to war, Treefine and so many others didn’t. She’s about to put her life in danger again for a cause some people in this room don’t even believe in, don’t care enough to know it is a cause.

But she’s been judged all her life, her pop is human and her mom a traitor, she fell in love with a Spree spy and has stood her ground on every turn. It cause her so much trouble in War College, but she was a good fixer and Alder was very fond of her ability to make things go kaboom. 

She has fought all her life, and at this point she doesn’t know who she is if not a fighter. 

“My mother keeps staring at us” Lieutenant Harding comments, as they continue to swing to the music “I think she doesn’t like you very much”

Raelle forces herself not to react, if Harding is looking at them then the plan is working, and as long as she can’t see her she’ll be fine. But the younger Harding, the one currently in her arms, is waiting for an answer. 

“Well there’s a lot of me not to like” she offers, and the girl laughs, light and easy “For one I’m from the Cession, ‘s not of everyone’s likin’” she exaggerates her drawl for extra effect. 

“I’m sure is not that, but the accent is, um, kinda hot"

Raelle takes advantage of the girl’s distraction to spin her around, and catches Scylla looking at them just as Lieutenant Harding hands come back to hers. 

Is she jealous? 

The song the band is playing comes to an end and a hand comes to rest on her shoulder, distracting her from her thoughts on Scylla. 

“I’ll have the next dance” comes Louise’s voice and Raelle can see Treefine coming through the crowd.

When Lieutenant Harding is far enough and Treefine has been dealt with, Louise speaks again “We have a problem”

She really doesn’t like her and she kind of hates that they have to work together. She also hates the way Louise easily slips into her arms and smiles, as they begin moving with the music. 

“Buttonwood has Harding and her people running the security” Louise continues to speak in hushed tones “She’s here now, but she’s doing rounds, every fifteen or twenty minutes around the office floor, Buttonwood’s office too”

“You think they know?”

“No, maybe they suspect someone in here could make a move” she spins Louise, if only to have her away, she’s back too quickly “We need a way to distract Harding if she comes into the office while Abigail is there”

“What do you propose?” she fears the answer. Louise is here, talking to her instead of Abigail or Scylla. Harding hates her, not the others. 

“Well, I have more than one reason to be dancing here with you” Louise admits “You have a reputation at this kind of parties”

“I do?”

Louise knowing smile is annoying “Yeah, Ashford made sure to let everyone know about your little, uh, escapade at the last High Atlantic annual ball”

“One person doesn’t make a reputation” 

“But was it really one person?” 

She doesn’t answer and Louise smile of satisfaction is annoying “Back to the plan, Swythe”

“When I go into Buttonwood’s office to get the speech, you come with me”

“What…?” she sighs defeated as the song ends “Okay. I’ll tell the others”

“Very well, I enjoyed this dance, now make it believable”

“What you mean?”

“Lay it on me, Captain, that charming Cession shit that make girls go crazy” Louise grips her bicep and leans closer. 

Raelle smiles softly, for both the role she’s playing for people watching, but also ‘cause when she’s not being a Spree piece of shit, Louise is not terrible company.

She lets go of Louise’s hand and cups her face, puts a deliberate kiss on her cheek and whispers in her ear “You wish it was real, Swythe”

Louise giggles, probably to sell their story “Not going to lie, Cap, I dig it”

She mets with the team a while later, she danced with Treefine, who had a very interesting story about how Buttonwood had actually been responsible or her cousin’s appointment to the archive. She had apparently find the older Treefine looking around the papers she kept in a safe in her office, dirt on everyone who was anyone from her days as Chief of Internal Intelligence. Suffice to say, she was powerful enough to punish another high atlantic and the Treefines hadn’t been happy, but they had “understood”.

Tally looks from afar while she tells Abigail and Scylla the story. It had been Scylla’s idea not to tell Louise about Tally until the very last minute. To have an advantage in case she was planning something else. And right now she’s not hiding her satisfaction with having been proven right. 

“She’s changing the plan right now?” Abigail asks in disbelief, she’s struggling with all of this, Raelle can see it and she wishes there was something she could to help. 

They will be okay when this is all over. 

In the meantime she tries to keep her mind focused on the mission “I already said yes, I’ll be fine, Abi, everything is as planned, except I’ll be with Louise instead of at the party”

“Be careful” Scylla says, she looks like she wants to say more.

Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of the members of the General’s Council.

She sees Petra first, but the woman had always known how to make an entrance and command the attention of a room, Buttonwood must hate that, ‘cause suddenly no one is looking at her, at her own party. Next to Petra, comes Anacostia and General Wick, the Chief Fixer. General Swythe is a step behind, she walks slower, distracted by her conversation with General L’Amara. 

“They all came” she notes and she turns to her teammates, they too are looking at the group of women who have everyone's attention. 

“That’s probably why Buttonwood has Harding running security, everyone is here, she can’t have anything go wrong” Abigail says a second later. 

“We need to change the plan” Scylla is not looking at them, she’s already one thousand steps ahead.

Tally casually comes to a stop next to them, she must have heard what they were saying cause she looks intrigued “That is crazy!”

Scylla ignores her and grabs four glasses of champagne from a passing tray “Let’s go outside for a minute...make a toast to Tally and Gerit”

They follow her outside, Raelle is curious as to what is going through her head. 

Scylla gives each one of them a glass “Look happy, I’m making a toast” she points with her head behind them, were Harding’s people are keeping an eye on them “How do you suppose a voting would, go say tomorrow, to choose a new General of the Army, with those five”

“Well... “ Abigail stammers. Raelle can tell that not knowing what Scylla is planning is giving her anxiety.

“Anacostia won’t vote for Swythe, we know she would never agree with their ideas” Raelle says when Abigail does’t start again “Neither will Petra,’cause she wants it for herself. Wick has always been a bit of a wildcard, in all my time working with her in War College I could never figure out where she stood”

“She and Susan have brunch on sundays” Tally comments at the same time Abigail speaks. 

“She and my mom are good friends”

“Great, so she could go either way” Scylla doesn’t let that deter her “What about Izadora?”

“She voted to get Harding elected as chief of the fort here in D.C” Raelle remembers her shock when she head the news.

“But she was also on the phone with Petra and Anacostia when Buttonwood was appointed Secretary” at this point Scylla is not talking to them, she’s just making them privy to her thought process “We obviously don’t know everything that is going on here, so first point, Tally you’re not part of the Army anymore, are you sure you still want to be a part of this?”

“One hundred percent” Tally’s words are sure, she’s always been a team player “I have always taken pride in fighting for to protect witches and no matter what happens, I will always fight with you, you guys are my family, you’re my witches, you too Scylla”

Raelle smiles fondly at her friend, Abigail too, she relaxes a little bit more and puts a hand on Tally shoulder “Your the best of us, Tal"

“Don’t go sentimental now, Bells” Raelle punches her friend’s arm and the three of them laugh. 

“I don’t think we should trust Petra” Scylla says a second later, and there’s a hint of doubt on her words, she looks carefully between them. She feels like an outsider, Raelle wants to reassure her. 

Abigail beats her to answer “Okay. Say we don’t, who do we trust? ‘cause we’re going back to the party and if we don’t do something now, Buttonwood wins, and we can’t let that happen”

“I have been thinking about that” Scylla says, her words are careful “The Army is bad, but so is the Spree. We can’t trust either, we can only trust each other and I know I’m not the most trust…”

“I’m in” all three of them say at the same time. 

Scylla does a double take, the disbelief is clear in her face “You trust me, just like that?”

“Yeah” Abigail nods, she shakes her head a little, laughing at Scylla’s disbelief “How are we doing this?”

"You trust me" Scylla repeats slowly. 

She and Tally nod, Abigail sighs "Surprisingly, yes, cousin, we trust you"

Tally throws her arms around Scylla “We are a family!”

Abigail laughs dryly “Can you tell me you saw this coming, say ten years ago, shitbird?”

Raelle shakes her head “No”

She wouldn’t have it anyother way. She would die for this three people.

Buttonwood calls them to have them shake hands with the members of the President's Cabinet and the Chief of Staff, they all look a bit shaken up, and Raelle doesn’t know if its ‘cause of Buttonwood or if they distrust witches in general. Soon enough the general lets them go and calls Louise over. 

Scylla takes her hand as they walk away “I want to dance with you”

“We have like two minutes before she comes to get me” 

“I’ll take it”

As they move with the music, surrounded by other couples dancing, Raelle remembers the one time they had dance together before. The memory used to hurt so much in the beginning, but with time and distance it became something she cherished. Like the woman in her arms. 

_“Whatever happens I love you”_

She hadn’t answer then, scared of how strong feelings for the other girl were. 

She is older now, has survived so much, Scylla too, she can see the pain in her eyes sometimes. She hopes one day, Scylla will trust her with it, ‘cause she will always want to help her, to protect her. 

“Louise is coming” Scylla whispers, her eyes right over her shoulder, scanning the room.

“Okay” she sighs against Scylla’s neck, “Scylla?”

“Yeah?”

“Whatever happens now, I…”

“I know” Scylla smiles against her neck and kisses right over the collar of her uniform “Me too”

Louise gives them a second before interrupting “Trying to steal my woman, Ramshorn?”

“Can’t steal somethin’ that’s not yours, Swythe” she warns before Scylla can speak, the expression in her face is enough, though, she extends her hand for Louise to take “I’m gonna make you eat your words”

“Uh, promise?” Louise aksk with a playful smile. 

She can feel Scylla’s eyes on them as they walk away. 

“Buttonwood sent me to get her speech, but I figured I could use the company” Louise makes a show of the whole thing, Raelle is pretty sure everyone in the party knows what she means, which is good for the plan “We have like fifteen minutes, Chief of Staff is about to go on stage”

“I can work with fifteen minutes” she slips her hand on her waist and brings her closer. 

She follows Louise through the hallway that leads into Buttonwood’s office. She stays outside while Louise goes to find the speech, she comes back out a second later and takes her hand, “Now, what do we do for the next twelve minutes?”

Keep guard. That’s the plan. Abigail will use the seed she learned from Adil to make them invisible and that’s how they will go into the office. Abigail and Scylla, that is. Tally is outside, wearing Scylla’s face. They’re using off canon Work, so Harding can’t track them, another one of Scylla’s ideas. 

“Wait patiently. Keep your hands where I can see ‘em” she warns her “No playin’ ‘round”

Louise pouts, taking the whole charade too serious. 

It’s all going smoothly. Abigail and Scylla have ten minutes to go over the office and Tally as Scylla is keeping an eye on Buttonwood in the party. All is calm. Hopefully nothing goes-.

The echo of boots on the hallways alert her of someone coming, she pushes Louise against the wall, and the girl laughs, opening a couple buttons of her jacket. She’s not sure of far she’s willing to take this whole show, but Louise seems a little to eager. She can’t help but think of Scylla on the other side of the wall going over Buttonwood’s office in hopes of finding something to save their skins. 

They can’t get caught. 

She buries her head in Louise’s neck and kisses a line from her jaw, going south. Louise yelps in surprise and she moans a second later, Raelle has the certainty that was not fake. She doesn’t have time to dwell in it, ‘cause she finally figures out who’s onto them and her blood runs cold. 

"Captain Raelle Collar" Harding comes into view, at the other end of the hallway "Funny we meet again"

Raelle hand on Louise’s waist tightens and the lieutenant moans again, she tries and fails to hide it on her shoulder. 

She looks up, and their eyes meet. She instinctively covers Louise with her body, as they younger woman pulls herself back together. 

There’s something dark in Harding’s smile. Every cell in her body says fight, but then Harding posture relaxes and her hand goes to rest on her hip right above her scourge.

And she can feel the ghost of cold finger on her cheek.

_What did I say, eh, Collar? That I'll show you your place and that’s what I'm doing. Here is where you belong, in the mud, at my feet” the finger becomes a full hand pushing her face harder into the mud “Stay down”_

_Harding let’s go and stands up, picks at the discarded scourge on the floor and pulls hard at it, untangling it of her neck and cutting her skin open._

_She yells in pain and her mouth fills with mud. No one can hear her._

“Of all the places, deflowering a Lieutenant in a hallway is where I find you”

“We were just leaving, have to go back to the party” she offers Louise her hand.

“No, no, please don’t let me interrupt your fun” she shakes her head with humor, Raelle hates everything about this woman “I’ll go, have to chat with the Secretary, keep her in the loop with everything that’s been going on, you will her from me later next week though, I already know I will have fun when I take charge of Fort Alder and the D.C troops”

Harding is gone a second later, but the damage is done. Louise feels her hold loosen and turns them around so now Raelle is against the wall.

“Cap, you okay?” her tone is playful, and Raelle tries, she really tries to hold onto it, too relax.

It doesn’t work. 

“Hey! What is it, Cap?”

She wants to tell her, its her neck, her uniform jacket is stiff, and it's hard to breathe, but she can’t speak, she can’t escape from the vision that keep repeating behind her close eyelids. The memories hit her like a tornado, she’s back in Sudan, the village is on fire, the camps too, it's only them who aren't burning, Harding laughs, people burn and she laughs. And Raelle, she can’t stop her, she can’t do anything. She deserves her scars, she wasn't strong enough, she couldn't save them...She hates Harding ‘cause she is stronger, she someone Raelle can’t beat.

Her head is banging against the wall behind her and her hands desperately grasp at nothing .

Louise take her hands to stop her from shaking, and the jolt of her cold hands shakes her off enough to see through the fog. 

“The… neck… ‘s my…-”

“Okay, yeah I'll do it. Its okay" she undoes the first few buttons and then the shirt under. 

Raelle can breathe again, she comes back slowly, her forehead is sweaty and she cleans it with the back of her hand, she tries to speak and all that comes out is a shaky "Thanks"

Louise smiles shyly, and observes the scars in low light "This might not be helpful at all, but I think they're hot"

Raelle is surprised by her own laughter, and their heads bump into each other. She look into her eyes, Louise's brown eyes shine with excitement and innocence, she looks light and open. 

She never was like that. 

“Say, I kiss you know, what would your reaction be?” Louise asks her cautiously. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea”

“Because of Ramshorn” she nods in understanding.

“Yeah...It's complicated”

“Well if you ever need a distraction, I’m way better than Ashford” her smile is playful and Raelle already feels a little bit better.

She laughs, she’s sure that's true “Not a very high bar”

“True" she checks the hour and offer Raelle a hand to help her stand "Let’s go back, meet with your team” 

They walk back to the party just as Scylla and Tally meet Abigail by the bar. 

“I have to take the speech to Buttonwood” Louise let’s go of her hand and smiles kindly “I hope you are feeling better”

“I am, thanks, Louise” she smiles back, she is feeling better and its in part thanks to her.

As soon as she’s gone and Raelle turns to her friends, their eyes are worried. 

“Rae, what happened?”

“Are you okay?”

Scylla takes her hand “D you want to go home?”

She shakes her head "Did you get what we needed?"

Abigail and Scylla share a look "Yeah, my mom is meeting us after the party"

"We should go home"Scylla says, her eyes are on her "Open a bottle of that good wine I know Bellweather is hiding and toast to a well executed mission"

"It would be rude!" Abigail sounds offended at the idea.

"Abi, you have too, if I wasn't here with Gerit, I'd totally ditch to go have wine with you guys" Tally pouts and hits her arm.

"Yeah, live a little, Abigail!" Scylla pushes her other arm.

"Yeah, okay let's go"

In the house they get rid of their uniforms and meet back downstairs. Abigail brings the wine and the glasses and Scylla throws the folder over the table.

"Where did you hide those?" Raelle asks her as she opens the file and begins reading.

"It's a secret"

"She hid it in her jacket" Abigail says plainly as she uncorks the wine"It's huge, Rae, it proves Buttonwood and Swythe sent hundreds of soldiers to the frontlines 'cause they weren't from good matrilines and Spree too" she pours the wine "The council will have to do something about it"

"You got to love paper trails" Scylla smiles, and turns to Abigail "We should be wary of your mom, though, make sure she doesn't play us"

"Yeah, she'll owe us one for doing her a favour" Abigail points out.

They lose track of time after a while, Abigail falls asleep and Scylla moves to sit down next to her.

"It's already tomorrow in a way"

She laughs lightly "Yeah, I guess" 

"Are you okay?" 

"I'll be fine, just sein' Harding, it threw me off"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shakes her head "I'm just glad it worked out"

"Yeah me too, although…" there something she's not telling and she worries.

"What?"

"I don't know, I think...it felt to easy?" Scylla says quietly.

The doorbell interrupts her troubling thoughts and Abigail wakes up, she stretches "I'll get it"

They both watch her walk away, Scylla stands up a second later and Raelle follows. She really hopes Scylla is wrong.

Abigail looks over her shoulder when she hears them coming behind her, she looks confused but ignores it to open the door.

Petra stands on the other side.

One step behind, arms crossed over her chest and cocky smile on her lips is Susan Buttonwood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on tumblr @realbluedragon


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey dudes, here's the new chapter!! this is one my favourites and the last one I had planned when i started the story, so enjoy it, while i go back into planning mode and hopefully I'll have a much clearer idea of where we're going next saturday.  
> Have a good weekend!

Her eyes feel heavy, and she fights the tiredness to remain awake. 

Slowly she takes in her surroundings. 

She’s so over dungeons. 

Is not original anymore. 

She would like, love really, if people could stops locking her up in dungeons. 

Maybe she has traumas, big deal. Dungeons are a big no-no. 

But she can’t help the way her body reacts, before her brain can catch up. Its instantaneous, she opens her eyes and panic sets in, she can hear her blood pumping in her ears and every breath she takes feels painfully heavy. The chains in her arms and legs are heavy and cold, closed tightly against her skin barely giving her any space to move. When she becomes aware of the collar in her neck, she’s hit with a sudden realization. 

She’s been in a Camarilla dungeon before, they don’t use collars like these, and the Spree take no prisoners, no, this is the Army. 

It all comes back to her in an instant. 

The party, those High Atlantics trying to get it on with Raelle, dancing with her where everyone could see them, the change of plan, the stellar execution and the uneasiness. 

It was too easy. 

She remembers telling Raelle of her impression and the doorbell ringing, Abigail had gone to get it and then… Petra and Buttonwood, together.

“Fuck”

Abigail bends over at an awkward angle to give her a better look “That is one way to put it, cousin, but yeah, fuck indeed”

“Where the hell are we?” Raelle whispers, voice raspy, her eyes going around the room. 

Her question brings Scylla’s attention to the most important matter, she’s tired and thirsty, maybe they all are, but she’ll worry about it when she knows where they are and how to get them out of here. 

She looks around the room trying to get a grasp of where they are. Any clue, she needs something she can work with.

This dungeon is at least more modern than the one at Fort Salem, the floor is concrete and there are lights on every corner, which makes it hard to see anything that isn’t in the lights path, the door looks like a regular door, but she guesses there’s more to it she can’t see. The room is smaller too, warm enough that Scylla doesn’t regret not having put shoes on when she went after Abigail and the door. 

She’s not sure this is a military base, which is not all that reassuring. They are chained to chairs in a line in the middle of the room. Raelle is in the middle, her head is down and she quiet, she seems to be trying to calm down her breathing. Abigail is on the other end, her whole posture is rigid, that can’t be comfortable. 

“Anyone remembers anything?” she asks them when the room doesn't give her any clues on their location “How we got here? How long its been?”

Raelle and Abigail look as lost as she feels. 

“I woke up maybe ten minutes ago” Abigail speaks, she furrows her eyebrows in concentration “You two were still out of it, Rae woke up first”

Raelle nods “ ‘bout how we got here, last thing I remember we were drinkin' wine and then...the door, it was Petra and Buttonwood?” she turns to Abigail “Is it…? Did she…?”

Scylla gets the question, and so does Abigail if the expression on her face is any clue. 

Did Petra betrayed them? 

The answer seems to be yes. 

“I don’t know” Abigail says quietly, she lowers her head “Maybe she did, I...thought she was different”

Raelle looks at Scylla, maybe hoping she’ll say something. Scylla shrugs. 

What does she know about parents who betray their children? She’d probably make it worse.

“I’m sure there’s an explanation, Abi” Raelle tries, but her words fall flat. 

Scylla thinks that Willa’s reasons to fake her death might not have been as strong as she thought they’d be to convince her daughter it had been the right thing to do. It's not looking good for Petra. 

“Someone has to come check on us” Scylla says trying to ease the tension “Then we’ll know more”

“Reassuring” Abigail shakes her head and Scylla thinks the best they can do now is not talk.

It doesn’t take that long.

The door opens and Scylla realizes what the lights are for. 

She can’t tell its Buttonwood untill the figure gets closer and the lights illuminate her face, and it hits her. Whoever design this dungeon didn’t want people to know what’s behind the door, and she can think of a few reasons for that, but only one feels appropriate in the light of recent events. 

They never left the house. 

She doesn’t say anything. There’s no proof, it's just a theory for now, but if she’s right, Buttonwood and Petra only have one night for whatever they’re planning to do with them before Tally and Louise come knocking on the door. 

Although...maybe they don’t know that. 

Its saturday. They have weekends off and the party was last night, so maybe Buttonwood and Petra thought they didn’t have plans and were hoping to have the weekend for whatever they are planning. 

Scylla’s never been more thankful for brunch. Or Louise pestering her about being invited if she brought pastries from the place from last time. They were good, she was not lying about that. 

The sound of something being dragged around gets her attention back to their present situation, Buttonwood comes back into light from a corner, she’s dragging a chair, it's just like the one they’re sitting on, minus the chains. 

When the chair is positioned where she likes it she sits down. 

“So that didn’t work out as planned”

She smiles, perhaps the most honest one she’s given them so far, it’s a façade of course, but if they didn’t knew better, maybe they’d fall for it. It's very unsettling. 

The chains and collars, though, make for a tough and unreceptive crowd.

Buttonwood’s not wrong though. They agreed not to trust Petra and Scylla never did, but here they are. The plan they so carefully put together, perfectly executed and it all comes to one person not betraying them, and she did. 

“So I guess you’re wondering what happened” Buttonwood speaks again, she seems jittery with excitement, it's a new look “The answer is very easy: politics”

  
She holds for a beat, waiting for an answer, when she doesn’t get one she carries on, never once losing her smile, she must really want to tell this story.

  
“I never cared much for Swythe, she’s too attached to her ideas, it blinds her, but not Petra, she always has her eyes on the prize, it's what I like about her, so when she came with an offer, Swythe didn’t stand a chance. Do you know what makes me dangerous?”

  
“I want to know how my mother could betray us” Abigail speaks through gritted teeth, her anger is obvious and Buttonwood sems to take great pleasure in it. 

“Petra and I are much alike than I thought. We both want one thing, power, and we are willing to do whatever it takes to get it”

“Would you betray Gerit for power?” Abigail asks her, her voice is resigned and Buttonwood’s smile drops for an instant. 

“No, of course not. That’s cold” 

_Well, fuck._

Abigail lowers her head, Scylla has a feeling it's going to stay there. Raelle pulls at her chains to grab Abigail’s hand. 

“But Gerit is kind, he wants to be good, wants to do good, he just needs to be gently steered in the right direction” Buttonwood keeps talking “With power he can do all that good, but sacrifices are to be made, get rid of that Craven girl for once, find a girl from a good High Atlantic matriline. He will earn his power”

“Are you earning your power to?” Scylla questions the woman's logic. 

“Aren’t we all? I’m just not afraid to say it. We are all chasing power, to change things, be it for better or worse, we all want a piece of it”

So Buttonwood is not as crazy as she though, she’s actually making some sense, crazy person sense, but she’s not wrong. She’s smart enough to get this far, but what else? 

“So what did Petra promised you?” she asks, smiling confidently at the woman “She made us promises too, and maybe today we are the ones in chains, but tomorrow’s a new day, Susan”

Buttonwood bites, maybe is the tone or the words, but she can see the woman getting pissed “She betrayed you!”

“But did she?” 

“Oh she did, marched into my office just this morning with an offer I would be crazy to reject. An alliance to get rid of Swythe, I’d get full power over my faction and remain Secretary, and she gets General of the Army. I was curious as to what she had to offer, and she didn’t disappoint, told me she had a team spying on me right under my nose, ordered to infiltrate my office on the party and steal information to get me and Swythe out of the picture” 

“What do you have that she needs?” Abigail doesn’t ask, she demands the answer and Buttonwood smiles. 

“Guess it all came down to me being more reliable than you, I have proven I can stand on my own, I don’t need Swythe and I guess she doesn’t...need you”

“Fuck you!”

“However” Buttonwood carries on, ignoring Abigail “I could have use for you”

“No way!” Abigail pulls at the chains in an attempt at getting to Buttonwood, the sound gives Scylla chills and she has to close her eyes and take a deep breath to remind herself that she is not in Spain. 

Raelle tries to calm Abigail down and Scylla tries to get Buttonwood’s attention. 

“Why do-?” she shakes her head, and tries again “Why do you need us for?”

Buttonwood points at her with her finger “Is the Spree the leader of this team?”

“What if I am?” she can feel her strength return to her, she’s always been stronger in the face of adversities. 

“It's no shocker Petra betrayed you, a team made of people like you” Buttonwood stands up, she looks agitated for the first time since she showed up “I hate your kind”

“And what kind is that, Susan? Dodger? Spree? A witch?” she laughs at the woman’s face “Or is it ‘cause I’m young and you’re not?”

“Oh, child, do not test me” Buttonwood words are cutting, but she doesn’t let it reach her. 

“What are you going to do? I’m not scared of you, Susan!”

“You should be, I’m in power here, Spree, mind your mouth!” her face is red with anger and she puffing her chest like an affronted caricature villain. 

Spree. She is not Spree “Call me that again, and she what happens”

Buttonwood laughs, she recognizes she’s gotten under her skin for the first time “What are you going to do to me, chained to a chair with your pretty collar?”

“Release me and see what happens, bitch!”

“That is enough!” Petra walks in and the room goes dead silent “I told you to offer them a deal, Susan, not to get into a petty argument with Ramshorn!”

She turns to them and Scylla is surprised to see no traces of regret when Petra’s eyes fall on her daughter.

“Sit properly, Abigail. I expect better of you” she crosses her arms “We have an offer for you”

Susan rolls her eyes, but takes Petra’s silence as her cue “Part of the deal is that I can’t kill you just yet, you get a chance, even Spree scum, like you”

Scylla flips her off, Raelle shakes her head, but when she looks to the side she can see her little smile. 

They are crazy. Smiling at each other while chained up on a fucking dungeon.

“So you see, when Petra said she had sent you to get info on me I made sure to leave everything for you to find, I had nothing to lose, Petra was going to give it to me, and we’d use it to take down Swythe. That is still the plan, the only thing we need to figure out is who is going to go down for it”

Scylla thinks back to their first talk with Petra and wonders if this was her plan all along. If she led them into a confrontational mindset when it came to Buttonwood. Petra had from the beginning say she wanted to get rid of the other two generals to be the leader of the Army, but only Swythe had ever been in her path, not Buttonwood, and the Secretary of Witch Affairs was probably a better ally than three young witches with very little influence,even if one of them was her own child. 

“This is the deal” Buttonwood continues, she’s dragging her words, like this isn’t what she wants to be saying and her eyes are firly on Abigail, its as if she can’t stand the idea of having to offer a deal to people like them “This looks bad for me if it comes out, so we keep the truth between us, I go into the Council and we say I put you to it, I’ll even throw Harding under the bus, Swythe’s got to go, and the information you have proofs what she did during the war, and how Harding benefited from it. We’ll say it was to test Harding’s loyalty and she failed, got mad, she’s always been a bit volatile, Collar knows it, and she offed Swythe ‘cause she’s, you know, volatile. What you say?” her words are once again met with silence, and she glares at Abigail, once again not meeting her or Raelle’s eyes “The alternative is much worse”

That is a lot to take in. Scylla doesn’t know where to begin. 

Raelle does “Hang on, when did Swythe die?”

“Soon. Can’t have loose ends” Buttonwood says confident, looking between the two of them again with superiority ‘cause she knows something they don’t. She’s in control again and it shows, this is where she is most comfortable “Is only a matter of who goes down for it. I’ll give you some time to think it over, but do know, there are other offers on the table, many alliances could be formed here. I’m giving you a chance and not because you deserve it, you should be smart about it, and take it”

The two woman leave, the heavy door closes behind her and silence falls between them once again. 

“What’s the plan here?” Raelle asks after a while, she looks between them.

“If we take her deal-” Abigail begins.

“Only one of us can take that deal and get away with it, Abigail” she interrupts her “Your mom can protect you from Buttonwood, Raelle and I, we don’t matter, didn’t you hear? we are Spree scum and everything she hates, she might pretend to let us go if we agree to her stupid deal, but at the first chance she has she’ll wind-strike us into oblivion”

It's too much. She can’t take it all in, can’t pretend this isn’t happening. 

When did she become foolish enough to believe one day she wouldn't have to fight for every single right humans took for granted?

Raelle takes her hand. She holds onto it and closes her eyes, trying desperately to keep her head above water.

“Stupid question, but, are you okay, Scylla?” Abigail’s voice is filled with worry and she thinks one day maybe it will not be surprising that Bellweather cares. 

“Why do you care?” despite the words, the question lacks the strength to be taken as offensive.

“Because, dumbass, you are my family, and my mother might be a backstabbing bitch, but I’m better than her, I care” Abigail’s expression is soft, its fitting with her words and her stupid kind smile. 

Scylla will never not wonder about all the people smiling at the most concerning of times. 

Raelle’s hold on her hand is strong, it grounds her in the present. 

“I just-” the words she wants to say are stuck in her throat, and they won’t come out, she can’t do this right now, she needs to be in the present “I have a bad history with dungeons”

Abigail nods, like she understands, and maybe she’s thinking of Fort Salem, but it helps to know that she cares enough to change the subject “So how do we get out of here?”

  
Scylla holds onto the promise of having this conversation when they’re out of here and focuses her attention in the task at hand “Whatever’s out that door, they don’t want us to see, that’s what the lights are for. I think we never left the house”

The fact that Abigail doesn’t straight out reject the idea, makes her believe she’s onto something. 

“The basement was locked up when I moved here, I tried to open it, but there was some really strong Work in the lock and I couldn’t open it. When I asked my mom about it, she said she kept some delicate info there, stuff from Intelligence” Abigail explains “And with these recent developments, I guess I would be open to the idea of my mother having a dungeon in our basement”

“Buttonwood will come back soon” Raelle reminds them “She’ll want to hear what we have decided”

“If we’re in the house, then Tally and Louise will be here in, well I don’t exactly know how long its been, but they were coming over in the morning” Scylla reminds them “So we need to figure out our plan here, ‘cause they’ll need to move us soon, before too many questions arise”

“If we take the deal, Buttonwood will kill us when she has the chance, Scylla and me, but not you” Raelle looks at Abigail.

Scylla’s pretty sure they’re all on the same page on this. Abigail has to take the deal.

“If I do, and I’m not saying I will, what about you two?” Abigail looks torn “I know that.moving forward, whatever we do, we need someone in, really in, and I know I can be that person, that it should be me, with my last name and my connections, but what about you?”

Scylla gets it. Abigail is scared, of losing them, of losing this war they never signed up for.

She’s scared too, they all are. 

“We’ll find a way” Raelle tries to sound reassuring, Scylla knows it, but is not enough, this time they need more. 

“Tally and Louise will come, they will know something is wrong when we’re not there to open the door. They’ll know who to contact. Help will come” Scylla believes this with all certainty, she knows Tally is loyal and won’t give up, and Louise too will want to know what happened, even if that’s not enough Willa will seek them out “And even if not, we’re fighters, Buttonwood spent the war sitting on her ass, we just have to taunt her for a bit and she’ll come running, then we beat her up”

Abigail smiles shaking her head, “That’s your plan? Beat her in a fist fight?”

“Only if it comes to it”

“And when you’re out, how will I know that you’re safe?” 

Scylla hopes Raelle answers that one, but she doesn’t, instead she looks at her expectantly.

“When it's safe, we’ll find a way to reach you” Abigail nods, but doesn’t seem convinced “Don’t worry, cousin, you won’t get rid of us that easily”

“I know, shitbirds are hard to kill” she smiles weakly, but Scylla still calls it a win. 

“So you’ll take the deal?” Raelle asks.

“Yeah” 

They don’t talk for a long while, maybe its hours, she’s not sure. But Raelle’s hand is still in hers and its grounding her in the moment. 

Breathing is easy like this, she’s not afraid, she never is before the battle. And this two witches here are her family, and she will fight alongside them, like she’s done before. She’s always been willing to die for a cause she believes in, to fight with an for her family seems fitting. 

But she’s not willing to die, she won’t die today.

She keeps repeating it in her head, like a mantra, she refuses the idea of dying by Buttonwood’s hand. 

Much powerful people have tried, and she’s gotten away, but not Buttonwood. It won’t be, can’t be-

“You’re shakin' ”

When she looks at Raelle her eyes are worried, Abigail’s too. 

“I’m sorry”

Is not Raelle who speaks first, is Abigail “War fucked us all up, cousin, and we have to leave with the memories, but that’s why we’ll win, we remember and we won't let it happen again”

Raelle smiles and pulls at the chains to get closer, her hand barely brushes her cheek “That’s why we fight, Scyl, ‘cause we remember”

She instinctively moves her head to get closer. 

Abigail gives them a minute before interrupting. 

"We're doing this?"

Scylla and Raelle nod.

Now is a matter of waiting for Buttonwood to come back.

She lets out a shaky breath and hopes no one noticed. 

"Do you really think you'd beat her in a fist fight?"

Scylla chokes on air, then laughs, she never in her life thought she'd be friends with a Belleweather, but she can't imagine life without her anymore. Its annoying.

Raelle's smile is soft, like she knows what's going through her head.

Goddess, this is her family now.

Buttonwood comes back sooner than expected, this time she brings along a thick folder. Petra comes in a step behind, and stay by the door. 

"Let's hear it, then, have you decided?" Buttonwoods looks expectantly at them. 

"We decided you can fuck off, Susan! We're not taking your stupid deal!" She doesn't have to fake her anger, it comes out the moment the woman open her mouth. 

Abigail looks at them for a second, maybe waiting for a change of plan that doesn’t separate them for the foreseeable future. Scylla hopes she knows it's not forever. 

“Actually, I know we said-” Abigail struggling with her words feels all to real “I want to take the deal, I don’t want to to know what happens if we don’t, I just...Bellweathers don’t die in dungeons”

Scylla’s eyes are on Petra. Sure Buttonwood has been the lead singer today, but Petra was never one to take a step back, especially about something like this. So she’s curious, and the general does not disappoint, she seems surprised by Abigail taking the deal and her eyes met hers, like she knew Scylla was watching. 

They know each other, that’s the tricky part, Scylla can see through the facade, but so can Petra, she can tell the woman is upset and she quickly looks away, before Petra reads too much in her as well. 

Buttonwood as always in unaware of half the things happening in the room, too busy gloating about her one victory of the night, or day, whatever. 

“Oh, well this is delightful, your little team is breaking up!” she stands up and takes the keys from her pocket, she walks to them and stops before Abigail “I’m proud of you Bellweather, you took the right decision”

She removes the necklace last, everyone’s heard the story of the Bellweather’s powerful blasters.

Scylla’s eyes instinctively move to Petra and she catches the one second hesitation. 

There are so many theories in her head she’s going to have a headache. What is Petra playing at now?

Abigail stands up, stretching her arms and legs, she never once looks their way.

Its for the better. 

“Petra why don’t you take your daughter away? I want to have a little chat with these two” Buttonwoods sits down again, she opens the folder from before with a wicked smile.

Petra takes Abigail arms and drags her out of the room “Let’s go”

Once the door is closed behind them, Buttonwood’s smile turns wicked. 

“I’ll spare you the speech, you don’t have that much time” she pats the folder carefully “This one is where I keep al my little secrets, it's got something for everyone, even you. In the times before the war, as chief of Internal Affairs I was put in charge of gathering intel on our would be allies, so you two didn’t take too long to show up in my radar, after all Willa Collar was the leader of the Spree coalition that signed the alliance, you’re her kid and her right hand person, I was curious to know who would she choose if it came to it”

“I thought you were sparin' us the speech”

Buttonwood ignores the interruption “Have you rekindle your romance? People will want to know, when I tell this story, I think it will give it more drama” neither one of them answers and the general laughs “I’ll take your silence as a yes. I’ll carry on now. See, Alder never trusted Willa and she put me and Swythe in charge of a new division she called Section 5, we were to investigate, spy and deal accordingly with all Spree agents that were perceived as a threat to power, and all members of the army that show any dissident behavior, she gave us power to be judge and jury, and we used it well. Harding was our right hand woman, she carried our mission overseas, and she did a good job, didn’t she Collar?”

Raelle’s hands are closed in fists and her face is red with anger “Harding ‘s a monster and so are you”

“Oh, calm down, she did her job, one Alder was proud of, to free our kind of weeklings” she speaks every word with conviction and Scylla briefly wonders who the woman is underneath all the layers of hate and hunger for power.

“How did Harding free our kind of weaklings exactly?” she’s mildly scared of what the answer might be, she’s aware of the scars on Raelle, and not just the ones in her skin, the ones in mind too, she can see the way the memories haunt her and she wants to know what caused it. 

“With fire of course” Buttonwood smiles, and it's terrifying “They were weak, weren’t they, Collar? They couldn’t see that they needed us, refused our protection, so we let the Camarilla run them through, set fire to their villages until there nothing left of them to remember”

“I remember” Raelle’s words are defiant and she’s so fucking beautiful like this, all fire and fury.

“Of course you do, you’re a weakling too, a half blood, the human in you is at war with the witch, all the power you could wield, it scares you” her eyes are set on her, she doesn’t waver, she doubles down on her “That’s why you did it, isn’t it?”

“I told her to stop” 

“You set her on fire”

Raelle looks away.

“Like humans do” Buttonwood laughs at her “Your weakness was the tipping point, you know? After War College Alder knew she’s never be able to use you as a weapon, you’re too emotional, but maybe you could be used against your mother. She sent your file to us and we pair you up with Harding, we knew you two would clash, her views are radical even for me, Swythe and I were hoping she’d break you, I never imagined you’d fight back, or the strength with which you did, honestly, I commend you Collar, you managed a thing very few have before, you humiliated her, made her seem weak in front of her battalion, and the whole army. She will hate you forever”

“I should've killed her”

“Yeah, you should have” Buttonwood agrees, and her eyes turn to Scylla “Do you want to know how you fit in this story, Ramshorn?”

Anything to get Raelle off the spotlight, she looks like she needs a breather, also she’s curious as to what Buttonwood has on her “Sure, Susan”

“Oh you will be singing a different tune in a minute” it sounds like a promise, and as all things with Susan Buttonwood, Scylla feels the uniesness settle in “We had a reason to send Collar to Harding, Willa knew her, knew how she was and we always counted on her to want to keep her kid safe, it was only a matter of what she’d be willing to give up to ensure that”

Scylla starts to see where Buttonwood is going, Raelle too, her eyes are wide in surprise. 

“So when she came marching into Alder’s office demanding her kid be returned to the States immediately, we gave her an offer, kind of like we did with you. We’d bring Collar back, if, and only if she gave the Army, Section 5 really, control over the Intelligence operatives of the Spree. You among them” 

Buttonwood is probably enjoying their silence, the shock written in their faces. Scylla hates that she can’t control her reaction. 

“We gave them to Petra, most of them were put to work with our spies, with the exception of one team, Omega. In Section 5 we always called them Suicide Squad, cockroaches too, they just wouldn’t die...until they did”

“Don’t you dare!” 

Raelle looks at her, confused “What's Omega team?”

“They were her team” Buttonwood answers, her eyes are on her “You were their leader and you failed them”

"We were betrayed, not the last time it would happen, someone sold us out”

If she didn’t have the chains and collar to stop her she would have already kill this woman. 

Buttonwood laughs loudly “You are pathetic, both of you are! You could have been so much more. I pity you” she stands up to leave, but stops at the door “Don’t get to comfortable, we’ll be moving you soon, I’m not done with you”

The door closing is the last sound to be heard in a while after she’s gone. There’s too much to go over and Scylla struggles to take it all in, to understand how they got here in the light of Buttonwood’s revelations. 

“Scylla” Raelle is cautious, her voice is filled with uncertainty “I...I didn’t know that would happen”

“I know” she grabs her hand tightly. Goddess she knows, she only whishes there was something to make it easier.

“I’m scared” Raelle speaks again, she grips at her hand “I don’t wanna die, Scyl”

“We’re not going to die, shitbirds are hard to kill remember? Besides I made you a promise, a long time ago, I’m going to take you to the beach”

Raelle nods “Right, we’ll let the birds sing our goodbyes”

“Let our medals hanging at the door” she believes it, its far away, but one day she’ll give it to her “But first we need to win another war”

“Another war” Raelle laughs dryly “But we stay togheter this time”

She nods, can’t imagine loosing her all over again “I’m not letting you go”

“No more lies, Scyl, no more secrets”

The deal with Willa comes to mind. She’ll have to explain when they have time. 

The sudden noise at their backs is a welcome distraction, Petra walks in seemingly out of nowhere. 

  
"What do you want, Petra?” she asks her cautious, she’s still not sure where the general stands.

  
“Be quiet” Petra says quickly, she looks around the room, before returning her attention to them “I’m letting you go”

  
“Why?”

  
“There’s no time to explain” she releases the chains and finally the collars.

  
Scylla doesn’t trust her and she’s half made up that they should attack her before she does when Petra takes something from her pocket, its Raelle’s bandana. 

  
Raelle takes it without saying anything and ties it around her naked neck. 

  
"Take that door, it's a hallway, keep walking straight until the end, you'll come out on the back. There is a car parked with the keys on the ignition, I let a bag inside with clothes and money, go to Quartermaine. I'll look after Abigail you look after yourselves"

  
“But…”

  
Petra interrupts her before she can even formulate the question “There’s no time” she holds her hand ut for Scylla, she has her lighter “Take it and go. Talk to Anacostia”

  
Her words are urgent and they don’t have much time to question her, she quickly pushes them in the right direction and soon enought they’re outside. Its early, the sun just starting to come out, and as promised there’s a car parked outside with the keys on the ignition. 

Raelle takes the drivers seat and they both take a deep breath.

"Where to?" Raelle asks.

"Fort Salem"

Back to where it started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on tumblr @realbluedragon


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!  
> Here's the new chapter, I'm carrying on with the hella long chapter so enjoy that  
> In other matters, will i ever stop having to come up with names for character i also came up with myself??  
> Anyways, enjoy and have a good weekend!!

The radio is not a distraction. 

She lets it play anyways, it's better than the silence.

They have been driving for about three hours and she’s tired and hungry. 

The road ahead is deserted, there’s seems to be nothing for miles. 

When she did talk, although briefly, Scylla said they should take a secondary road to Fort Salem just in case Buttonwood was looking for them, so here they are now, in the middle of fucking nowhere, New England.

“We should stop in the next town” she says without looking away from the road, they both clearly have a lot in their heads “Get something to eat”

Scylla nods, her eyes are lost in the window “Sure”

“I know we have a lot in our heads right now, Scylla, but...I meant what I said right before Petra came” she needs to know if Scylla meant it too. 

_“We stay together this time”_

_Scylla nods “I’m not letting you go”_

_“No more lies, no more secrets”_

“Me too, I meant it” Scylla looks at her for a brief second, before turning her back towards the windows. 

One hour and fifteen minutes later they stop at some small town, she read the name in the sign when they passed it, but she forgets it almost instantly. She parks the car in front of a dinner and turns to the backseat for the bag Petra left. 

They have not yet touched it, but she needs a sweater and Scylla’s not wearing shoes. She rolls her eyes at the wad of cash she finds, but puts it in her pocket before continuing to look around. 

“These are our clothes” it slips past her lips in shock and Scylla finally looks at the open bag. 

She picks at a few items with curiosity, she finds a navy blue sweater, the words in yellow have faded with time, Lacrosse and Athletics barely visible. 

“Is this yours?” Scylla asks her quietly. 

"Yeah, from high school" she smiles at the fond memory, Scylla's eyes are trained on her, the hint of a smile on her lips, Raelle decides she's gonna find a way to keep it there "I played lacrosse, my pop surprised me with it when I made the team freshman year, he bought it two sizes bigger 'cause I was gonna grew into it, but I guess I never did"

Scylla smiles grows just a fraction "Can I have it?"

"Yeah" she forces her eyes back to the bag and picks a flannel shirt, passes Scylla her shoes and soon enough they're out of the car and into the streets.

The dinner is almost empty at this time, too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. A young girl with an apron and a name tag that reads "Lauren" smiles at them and takes their order before leaving them all alone again.

There's some background music playing, a happy melody that Raelle has always associated with dinners. Scylla is staring at the window, people passing by, living their lives.

"Sometimes I wish I was like them" Scylla says without looking at her "Watch them go about their lives, unburdened, no one's hunting them, trying to kill them because of who they are. They're living, you and me, we're just surviving"

"Do you hate humans?" she asks her curiously.

"I used to" Scylla confesses and her eyes finally leave the window to land on her "Then I...met someone who made me change my mind. Made me realize not all of them are bad”

"My pop is pretty great" she says and he is. He's gone through so much because of her, because he loved her mom. And when it was just the two of them, they were both broken, but still showed up, never once left her. She learned to be kind from him, to take care of her people "But you are right that not all are good"

The waitress returns with their food and it distracts them from the conversation, they’re both hungry, but Scylla wants to say more, she can tell and she gives her time to figure it out, keeps eating her burger in silence.

“We should see if there’s a hotel or something around here, so we can shower and maybe take a quick nap” Scylla eventually talks, but Raelle has a feeling this isn’t what she wants to say “We still have a lot of road ahead, and we can’t have accidents ‘cause we’re falling asleep on the road”

“Anacostia is waiting for us” she reminds her gently, and this isn’t a road trip, she reminds herself.

“I don’t think we should risk trying to contact her, Buttonwood might already have people with eyes and ears in Fort Salem. Anacostia trusts us to get to her, she’ll wait”

She’s right, if she were here, Anacostia would give her a disapproving look.

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s take a break”

They finish eating and split up, Scylla’s going to ask around for a hotel and Raelle wants to finish checking what’s on the bag from Petra, she needs to know if whatever the general’s planning, Abigail is in on. 

She unpacks the bag in the back seat and goes over the items, there’s nothing out of the ordinary, she puts the two scourges and knife on a side, and checks the clothes, the choice of items seems random, Abigail would have been more careful when packing, even if in a hurry she would’ve been picky and judgy, Raelle’s high school hoodie and four flannels would’ve never made it past her. 

So Abigail doesn’t know Petra let them escape. 

She sits back down feeling defeated, and then her eyes fall to the medal hanging on the rear view mirror. The recognises the purple ribbon and the shape, its hers, Alder had given it to her and Abigail too, after they came back from China. She takes it in her hands and turns it around, where her name should be written there’s someone else's name “Abigail Bellweather”

She sighs in relief, Abigail would never dare lose her own medal, the only explanation, and the only one she’ll believe is that Abigail switch them to let them know she’s ok. The image of protocol following Abigail Bellweather going around with her medal on makes her smile. 

She looks out the window at the people passing by, there’s more movement now, but this is still a town small enough that they stand out. Hopefully Scylla found a hotel where they can lie low for a bit, because she starting to feel the tiredness in her bones. The fastest they take their break the fastest they can go back to the road. 

There is so much they still don’t know, Buttonwood threw a lot at them when she thought they couldn’t possibly run away, and she’s still reeling from all that. Most of all she feels the weight of all the lives Willa gave up to save hers. 

Scylla’s life for hers. And so many others she never knew. 

She wants her friends. Needs Tally to hug her without her asking, wants Abigail’s warm looks, wants the three of them to find peace so they can meet up without the world trying to get them killed. Hopefully Tally got her message, and Abigail will get Scylla’s too.

They will meet again, goddess willing. 

And they need the goddess on their side, with Scylla insisting they use only off-canon Work there wasn’t much Raelle could do to get Tally up to speed with the events of last night. 

Back in D.C they had decided to needed to contact Tally and Louise to tell them what had happened and how they were moving forward. They spent fifteen minutes two blocks away from the hotel Tally was staying, with Scylla giving her the step by step on how to use the face changing seed before she drove away to meet with Louise, leaving her alone and with half a plan. 

She had ended up making the plan on the go, on her way to the hotel she had come across a flower shop and despite not being a fan of fire, she figured the smartest way to go was to keep her identity hidden, Buttonwood had yet to connect Tally with their plan, there was no need to do it for her. Scylla had told her that the key to get the seed right the first few times was to use the face of someone you knew well and to keep it in your mind for the glamour not to fall off before its time. 

Face chosen she had walked confidently towards the store where she bought a nice bouquet and wrote a note using the code she and they unit had develop while they were apart on the war and didn’t want the army to read what they were talking about, when the clerk moved to another customer she wrote the rune on the bottom end of the card and brought it closer to her lips so sing the seed. Happy with her work, she gave the card to the man and walked out of the store. 

She had stayed until she saw the flowers delivered at the hotel before getting to the place she and Scylla had agreed to meet to get on the road and out of the city.

Scylla gets in the car, distracting her from her thoughts “There’s only one hotel here, it's a small town so my guess is that everyone already knows about the two strangers passing by, but I don’t think we have reasons to believe that Buttonwood’s people are following us, I think we have a good chance of having a few hours before we have to-” she stops abruptly and turns to look at her, eyes worried “Raelle are you okay?”

She’s not. She doesn’t think she’s gonna be okay for a long while. Everything is a mess right now, and they are counting one ten different plans to go right, everything is hanging on a thread and she needs something she call hold on to. 

“I think none of us are okay” she finally decides to say and Scylla gives her the briefest of nods “Let’s go to the hotel”

Scylla makes up a story for the receptionist, they’re girlfriends on a road trip before settling in their new jobs in the West Coast, the woman is delighted by the information and she gives them the keys to the room with a wide smile. 

“That’ll give them something to talk about” Scylla gives her a forced smile, but she seems proud of her story. 

Scylla lets her have the first shower, and Raelle comes out of the bathroom to find her putting a protection seed on the window. She looks up when she hears her come in. 

“I already did the door. We’ll be safe here”

_Safe._

Raelle doesn’t have it in her to tell her she doesn’t think anywhere is safe for them right now. 

While Scylla showers she keeps guard by the window, nothing seems out of normal, but it never did before and that didn’t stop shit from happening. She doesn’t wanna get distracted, but Scylla comes out of the shower looking beautiful and soft, and her eyes immediately leave the window, she wants to reach out.

And Scylla can see the longing in her eyes, Raelle knows she feels it too. There’s a pull between them, there’s always been, but just like in the plane when they saw each other again for the first time in years, there’s a lot of stuff between them blocking their path, so much they have no control over, so many generals and leaders making decisions over them as if they were pawns on a chess board. 

She wants her, goddess, she wants her, but she won’t be the first to make a move. Not when it was her life that was deemed more important than Scylla’s, not when Scylla has not yet said anything about it. 

“Let’s get to bed” Scylla voice is soft too, and she holds her hand for Raelle to take. 

She takes the offered hand and Scylla waits for her to lay in the bed before following her. She lies on her side, observing her carefully. 

“It isn’t your fault” she says after a minute “I don’t blame you”

“But-”

Scylla shakes her head “Raelle, listen to me, a lot of things happened in the war, many decisions were made in offices, generals discussing war matters as if it was the weather, sipping their teas while witches died, some other times they forced the hand of someone to get their way, neither one it's your fault”

She nods, catches Scylla’s eyes “This past few days have been crazy”

“I don’t want to talk about it, everything is such a mess but” Scylla’s eyes never leave hers “I just want to be here with you”

And for now it will have to be enough. It's not like yesterday, or a week ago, is something else.

“I wanna be here her with you too”

It's a promise of sorts, of all the could be. All they will be when it's all over. 

She’s not sure when they fall asleep, but she wakes up from a nightmare and finds Scylla’s arms around her. She relaxes back into bed and Scylla slowly wakes up.

“You had a nightmare” she looks surprised by her words “I think we linked by accident”

“Never gets any less weird” Raelle mumbles, they’re still so close she can see every little detail of Scylla’s face every new scar, how blue her eyes are. 

“We are safe here” Scylla reminds her, trying to ease her “Tell me something, whose face you use to get your message to Tally?”

“Lieutenant Ashford’s” she says and looks carefully at Scylla trying to read her expression. 

Scylla rolls her eyes, but there’s the hint of a smile on her lips “The one with the cocky smile, you had sex with her”

Raelle can’t help the laugh that escapes her “More like she had sex with me, ‘twas one time and it got to her head”

Scylla nods like she understands. 

“What are you thinking of?” she asks her curiously when Scylla doesn’t say anything.

“Just...I was remembering something”

The blush in her cheeks gives her away and Raelle finds it easier to relax, Scylla is cute like this, and she refuses to think of the world outside this room.

“How much time you think we have before we have to go?” she tries to sound casual, but Scyla sees right through her.

“Well, we’re counting with a million things going our way” Scylla follows up her casual tone, hands slipping just the slightest under her shirt “For one, Tally got your message, and it's already in Boston, she can tell Anacostia we’re coming so she won’t worry if we take a little longer to get there”

“And we can lay here for a bit longer” 

Scyla smile is soft “We are safe here, we can let our guards down, even if it's just for a little while”

It's a beautiful dream. But they don't have the luxury of time, and they both know it. 

"Anacostia will kick our asses if we were a minute late according to her calculations" she says instead of what she really wants “She’ll give us the whole speech about how we'll age her prematurely”

Scylla nods slowly, her hands don't move and she leans in closer to kiss her cheek "Some other time then"

"I'll hold you too that"

Neither one makes a moves to get out of bed, until Scylla begins to stand, a playful smile on her lips “One thing before we get our things and go back into the real world” 

“What?”

Scylla smile drops, she’s looking at something behind her head, on the door “Someone is here”

Raelle follows her eyes to the door, and then she hears it, there’s a chain hanging on the doorknob and its moving on unexisting air, hitting the door making for a very discreet alarm. 

“It's one of our own” Scylla tells her, she walks to the door and removes the chain “I checked the town for witches and there were none, but just in case Buttonwood's people were after us I used a locating seed for traces of work, someone is here”

“Ok, but they can’t come in” she looks out to the window, there’s two new cars in the street, one in front of their car and the other one behind “I think it's more than one person”

Scylla comes to the window and looks at the cars “They look new, plates seem government issued, this has to be Buttonwood’s people”

She’s a million plans away, a quick look tells her Scylla is too. They’re gonna get out of this, they just need to figure out how-

The chain in Scylla hand starts shaking wildly and a second later someone knocks on the door. 

  
Neither one moves, but Scylla slides her hand into hers. 

“I kind of hate that she didn't think of slipping a scrye with everything else” she comments trying to ease the tension of the situation. 

The knocking comes again, this time harsher. 

“Open the fucking door, I know you're in there! Collar!"

Its Harding. Fuck, its Harding on the other side of the door. 

“I have a plan” Scylla leans in to whisper “But your not gonna like it” the hold on her hand tightens "We should kick her ass"

Its true. They should. She didn't stood a chance against her the last time, but she was alone and now she's not and it would be a very clear message to Buttonwood.

Harding's not alone either, though.

Scylla lets go of her hand to get the bag, she takes out the scourges and the knife leaving them over the bed “Weapon of choice?”

“Collar! I swear to the goddess-!” the knocking comes again, her knuckles hitting the door furiously. 

She recognizes her scourge immediately and takes it, Scylla takes the other one and hides the knife in the pocket of her hoodie. 

“She’ll come for me” she says and Scylla nods like she knows and she's already worked it into the plan she mentioned she had “We...can use that against her”

“I’ll protect you” Scylla says, and she means it. 

And Raelle believes she will. 

They go over the plan one last time and Scylla positions herself so she’ll be behind the door when Harding walks in. 

“I’m going to open now” she mouths, as she turns the doorknob. Harding comes into the room charging like a bull, scourge already flying. 

“I’m going to enjoy killing you!” 

Raelle just barely gets out of the way of her scourge and uses her own to get ahold of Harding’s dominant hand. 

Scylla makes the same for her foot, that combined with her momentum make the colonel fall to her knees.

"What a fun turn of events" Scylla comments casually, coming from behind her "I think you said something about killing us"

Harding makes an attempt at shaking off their hold and Scylla tightens her scourge around her leg "No, no, Colonel, I have one question for you, and then you can go back to trying to kill us. How did you find us?"

Harding laughs, her eyes are set on her "What? You think you Spree are the only ones to use off-canon Work? I put in a little extra something in my scourge that night" she touches her own neck with her free hand "I can track my work, but that's not all I can make"

Scylla's worried eyes fall on her, and she feels the situation getting out of her control. She won't let the panic set in.

_"I will protect you"_ Scylla said, and even if that wasn't an option Raelle is strong, she has survived Harding.

"You're weak" Harding voice is filled with disappointment, she talks to her as if Raelle still was the young witch straight outta War College, and she was the supposed mentor.

The colonel sings a low seed in the back of her throat and it takes Raelle a minute to realize what is happening, but the look on Scylla's eyes makes take notice of the way her scars are shining, and the worst part is she can feel the scourge in her neck again, and as Harding holds the seed the imaginary leather tightens around her neck and she falls to her knees dropping her scourge as she goes. 

"Raelle!"

She hears her, but she's far too gone. She needs it all to stop. Harding falls to the floor a second later and she can breath again. 

Scylla offers her a hand to help her stand "Told you I would protect you, sorry it took me a minute to go for it. Are you okay? Do you-"

"What do we do with her?" she points at Harding lying on the hotel room floor.

"We can tie her up, leave her here, whoever came with her will come check if it takes to long, right?"

The sound of hurried steps in the hallway alerts them just maybe Harding’s people are not so far behind. Scylla works fast in tying the colonel to the desk chair using her own scourge and she grabs their bag, checks they aren’t forgetting anything. 

Lieutenant Ashford comes charging into the room a second later and her eyes are wide in shock when she takes in the scene. 

“What the hell?” she looks at her for answers “Raelle?”

“We've got to run” Scylla reminds her. 

Ashford takes the room in one last time, seeming to have reached a conclusion “No way” she takes her scourge, squaring up for a fight. 

Raelle drops the bag and jumps at her. It takes her a minute to really get it under control, but soon enough Ashford is on her back, arms and legs pinned down on the floor. 

“Stop fightin’, Grace, you know you can’t beat me” Raelle tries to reason. 

Ashford stops her stupid attempts at getting out of her hold and sighs “Harding will kill me when she wakes up and finds that I let you go”

Scylla clears her throat, almost as if she’s trying to remind them that she’s still there, hanging out with the sleeping colonel “How about I give you a reason to let us go?”

Ashford looks legitimately scared of the look on Scylla’s eyes “What would that reason be?”

“Medical emergency” Scylla replies calmly, she takes the knife from the pocket of her hoodie and brings it to her lips, as she sings her seed the blade turns black.

“She’s hot” Ashford mumbles almost in wonder.

Raelle doesn’t know why she finds that funny “Yeah, she is”

Scylla brings the knife down on Harding’s right wrist and the hand falls to the floor with a heavy thump, it starts drying quickly, closing in on itself, slowly decomposing on the carpeted floor, a second later, a mushroom appears from the remains of it.

“Oh goddess”

“Holy fuck”

Raelle lets go of Ashford and picks the bag, she takes Scylla’s hand “You are not eating that”

Scylla shakes her head, saying that no, she won’t try to eat this death cap, and turns her attention to Ashford who is horrifyingly staring at the mushroom.

“The cut is cauterized, she has an hour to get to a fixer or they will not be able to grow her hand back” Scylla mentions casually “See you never”

Raelle still too shocked to decide whether or not Scylla is being this petty out of jealousy or if its because she genuinely enjoyed cutting off the colonel's hand.

“Uh, bye Grace”

Ashford barely looks away from the colonel “Yeah, bye, Captain”

Scylla drags her away by their joined hands before she can think to much into being called Captain and not Raelle. She might find the younger witch annoying, but she hopes she doesn’t get hurt by all of this. 

They leave the hotel by the emergency exit, coming out on an alley, a guy on a bike is discussing with a woman holding a baby, they’re too caught up in their fight to even see them pass by. 

“I told you to buy a car, and this is what you get!” the woman shouts and Raelle stops them in their tracks. 

“We should switch them the car for the bike” she whispers. 

Scylla nods and turns to the couple “Hey, sorry to break into your discussion, but we have a car, and you seem to need it way more than us, also my girl here loves the rush of speed” she smiles fondly at Raelle and for a second she forgets that five minutes ago this same girl cut someone’s hand off “You can see it if you want?”

The man looks unconvinced and the distinctive sound of someone shouting and cursing comes from the hotel.

So maybe Harding woke up quicker than they thought. 

She searches her pockets for one of those wads of cash Petra left around the bag “How ‘bout we buy it?”

The man too seems to have heard the shouting and he nods, throws the helmet for her to catch, offers Scylla the other and takes the money “Tank’s full”

Raelle nods, thankful that the man doesn’t ask questions, they get in the bike and drive off. 

Just out of town Scylla mentions that she actually doesn’t know how to drive a bike and after some struggle to stop, they switch places. 

They drive for what feels like hours, and probably is, they make a few stops here and there, the bike allows them to go through roads they couldn’t have with the car, but it also takes a lot longer. 

The sun is setting when they finally make it to the city of Salem. 

“This place is crawling with witches” Scylla says quietly, she looks left and right as if she could tell them apart with just a look “We got to be careful, especially as we approach the fort”

“Good thing we have a bike and not a car” she starts the engine again “Hold on”

Scylla does, perhaps with a bit more strength than needed. But Raelle’s choice of roads has not been the best today, she learned to ride a bike in the Cession, and their roads were nothing like the New England highways. She feels more comfortable driving on rocky and muddy roads,and its safer too. It's also got Scylla to hold on tight to her and that’s a bonus she'll take after the day they’ve had. 

But they’re safe now, she can see Anacostia’s house in the distance. The general had gotten tired of living in the base so she had bought a property halfway between the fort and the city. Raelle had never questioned how she had afford it, she was just happy to have a place to crash on when she couldn’t take another night in the barracks. 

Scylla taps on her shoulder breaking her out of her thoughts, she points to a dark point in the road ahead. 

A car? 

A dark car. Like the ones in the small town they had let Harding into. 

They pass by the dark car a second later, and she knows its her. 

Harding calmly walks behind them, scourge in her left hand. Her right arm limply falling on her side. 

So she didn't get a fixer to look at it.

If what Scylla said is true, Harding must be really committed to the cause.

A second figure comes into view, standing just outside the fence of Anacostia’s house.

General L’Amara. 

That would explain why Harding’s just walking. She knows they have nowhere to run. 

Izadora is holding a shotgun and begins walking towards them too, when she’s close enough she shouts “Duck!”

Raelle only has a second to react as a shot fires into the darkening night, the bike comes crashing down and they tumble into the grass by the road. The sound of a second shot is followed by the sound of something falling heavily on the road behind them. 

General Izadora walks past them as if they weren't there, and after getting up and dusting off they look at each other confused.

“She didn’t shoot at us” she says trying to grasp what the hell is happening. 

They stand up quickly and follow after the general. 

Colonel Harding is thrown on the floor, gunshot wound in her stomach. 

“Miss the first one” Izadora comments casually “Told Anacostia we should put some lights outside”

Harding sits up, she spits blood in the floor next to her and laughs dryly, she tries to point at Izadora but she remembers late she doesn’t have a right hand anymore, she lets it fall limply and snarls at the general “You betrayed us”

Izadora laughs “No, I played you, Julia, and you all were to stupid to realize I wouldn’t betray Anacostia like that. You could say I played my hand well” she winks at Scylla. 

Scylla is as shocked as Raelle to formulate an answer.

Harding finally realizes she's not likely to walk out of this one. She begins singing that low seed again and just as Raelle feels the tightening pressure in her neck, Izadora shots again and Harding lumps back into the floor dead.

“What the fuck?” she rasps, breathing hardly. 

Scylla’s hand in her back stops her from falling all together.

Izadora puts the gun down and looks between them "Well don't just stand there we need to get her into the house. It's a full moon tonight, you and me Ramshorn are going to have a busy night”

Raelle takes Scylla's hands and grips it, catching her breath.

“C’mon, soldiers” Izadora calls again “Anacostia was making dinner, and it must be ready by now, she’ll get cranky if the food gets cold”

Raelle finally finds more words than just curse words “You shot her, you could have blast her or something, you didn’t have to kill her”

“No Work allowed outside of base" the general answers, wicked smile on her lips, she turns around walking back towards the house "Hurry up”

Scylla kicks the body of the colonel and nothing happens she turns back to her with a worried expression “I don’t think I can carry it on my own”

Raelle is not touching that. Harding has done her enough for her to have to carry her body now, she trembles at the idea. 

Izadora turns around looking annoyed “Goddess, go on Collar. Craven made chocolate chip cookies, Ramshorn and I will carry it”

Tally’s here. She sighs in relief and Izadora passes her the shotgun. She watches them pick the body up and begin carrying towards the house. There's blood dripping everywhere.

"No body, no crime" Izadora says as she opens the door for them to enter the property.

The door of the house opens and Anacostia comes out, her eyes are wide in surprise as she takes in the body and the gun. 

"Izadora what the fuck?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up in tumblr @realbluedragon :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!  
> I swear I hadn't bullshit this much since high school, anyways such is the life of a writer trying to make new magic for a magic-centered show, what have I gotten myself into???  
> BACK TO THE POINT enjoy the chapter and I'll go back to my meditative silence.  
> Have a good weekend!!

Scylla’s been to awkward dinners before.

Like that one time her dad caught her making out with Porter when they were fifteen and then they sat through a whole dinner in which he couldn’t look her in the eyes and her mom kept trying and failing to make conversation. 

This dinner, though, takes the cake. 

Or cookies in this case. Chocolate chip cookies that Tally keeps raving about. 

Raelle too, although a lot more quietly. 

Anacostia has them both, and Izadora too, fixed with a dead glare that won't give up. 

“Anacostia, c’mon lay off” Izadora starts again, this is her third attempt at calming the other general down. She’s failing real bad.

Scylla thinks that if she, Raelle and Tally weren’t here this conversation would be going very different. 

“You brought a body into the house!” Anacostia takes a deep breath, and when she speaks again the anger is not gone, but it's the quiet type. It's terrifying “A colonel’s body. Buttonwood already had reasons to come after us, and now her right hand witch is on my fucking basement”

“Our basement” 

“Izadora, I swear to the goddess-”

“And ironically, her right hand woman doesn’t have a you know...right hand” the general laughs at her own joke, and Anacostia shakes her head, an expression mix of disbelief and fondness in her face. 

Wait. She looks between the two women “You two...are together?”

Raelle and Tally snort and Anacostia glares at them until they quiet down. 

“I really thought you two would grew up eventually” she rolls her eyes, turning her attention back to the matter at hand “We need to discuss this...situation”

“Can we finish eating first?” Raelle asks making a face. 

Anacostia looks ready to give up on this dinner “Out of all the children I never intended to adopts, Collar, you’re the one who causes me the most trouble”

Raelle smiles just a little, and doesn’t say anything. And there’s something about the way Anacostia’s glare turns into a warm, almost maternal smile, that makes Scylla think this isn’t a new thing. 

Raelle looks relaxed and happy. They’re in the middle of a war and yet they keep finding all this little moments, and all these special people, it doesn’t make all the fighting worth it, but it makes it bearable. 

“If you claim those two, I want Ramshorn” Izadora says as she puts her glass of wine down “We will bond over necro shit and our shared love of the occult”

Scylla laughs nervously “I...would not oppose”

“I would hardly say I claim them” Anacostia look of utter disbelief is hilarious, but no one dares to laugh “Enough with the recollection of strays. Let’s finish dinner and discuss this in a way that doesn’t make Collar lose her appetite”

“Yes, we’ll discuss this other matters over tea” Izadora finishes. 

Tally and Raelle share a look and laugh quietly, and Izadora keeps her eyes on Anacostia until the other general’s expression relaxes and a small smile makes its way to her lips. 

The tension diffuses after that and when they are finished eating and Anacostia decides to take a walk in the backyard to “clear her mind”, Izadora calls her over from the kitchen for her to assist with the dishes. She look over to Raelle as she leaves, she’s talking with Tally in hushed tones, and when she catches her looking, she smiles briefly. 

“Ramshorn!” Izadora calls again. 

“Coming”

The general keeps looking her way every couple of minutes as they do the dishes, after they’re done, she sits down on the small table by the windows overlooking the patio “Put on the kettle for the tea and come sit with me” 

Scylla does as told. It's strange to be here, in their house, and to be made feel welcome. She can see that Tally and Raelle have been here before, they are comfortable around the two generals, they laughs at their banter and they move around as if it were their own house too, and the generals seem just as comfortable with them around their space. 

“So, you cut Harding’s hand off” Izadora starts when she’s barely sat down “A clean cut, cauterized, black around the edges. That’s a forbidden seed. I’m impressed, but how?”

Scylla sighs, there’s no point in denying it, Izadora is a bit short-fused, very hands on with her teaching from what she remembers “Petra allowed off-canon Work in Intelligence during the war, she got us some of the old books from the archive the few times we were in a base, other stuff we made as we go”

Izadora nods, she’s thinking, of what Scylla does not know. The general’s eyes turn to the window, where Tally and Raelle have joined Anacostia on her walk. 

“Anacostia got a little bit attached to those three” she mentions casually, as if this is what they’ve been talking about all this time “What you and I can do, Scylla, is weird, strange, call it what you want, even our own kind look down upon us, but its powerful too, we can win this war, but we must protect them first”

“Them?” she asks. 

Izadora smiles and when her eyes fall on her there’s a softness to her that she’s never seen before “This family. We’ve all lost people to war, let’s make sure we don’t have to anymore”

The generals words make her think “You really think Buttonwood would come after you and Anacostia? You are generals like her, a part of the Council, she can’t possibly cut you off without repercussions”

“Anacostia and I were the last to be made generals by Alder, Petra’s a legend, Swythe’s got all her High Atlantic shit, Wick’s one hell of a fixer, save many on the war, and Buttonwood’s a dirt collector in designer clothes, in the big scheme of things, Anacostia and I are replaceable, I run the Necro division and she runs Fort Salem, our power comes from hard work, we’ve earned our places, but we can just as easily lose it. Buttonwood is a dicey one, she’s got power not only between our kind, but with humans too” Izadora stops, she’s seems to doubt whether or not to carry on “She’s playing a dangerous game, Scylla, and humans are on her side now, but if she makes one move out of line she might be the thing that finally turns them all against us, and I can’t say with absolute certainty that we’d win that war”

That’s a lot to take in, but it checks out. Izadora is a very thoughtful person, very observant too. She’s the kind of person others look down on, and she learned to use that to her advantage.

Harding probably learn that the hard way, with her face on the wrong end of a shotgun.

Izadora is also always a few steps ahead of people, Scylla always thought they were alike that way, but she she had not yet thought of the humans, not like Izadora anyways. She had thought this whole conflict as a witches only thing, but they do live in a human world and Buttonwood is poking at barely hold together equilibrium. 

“So she needs to go”

Izadora nods “No matter what, with Buttonwood in the picture we’ll never be at peace and with no peace we’ll never be truly free” 

Freedom. 

It always comes back to that. 

“I need to know that you’ll do whatever it takes to end this” Izadora says, she’s walk past her to make the tea, and she looks over her shoulder at her, while casually pouring the water in the cups “I know I will”

Will she do whatever it takes? She has already done some regrettable things to get this far. The deal with Willa is the highlight that’s been playing in her dreams lately, she’s also keeping Louise in the dark about a lot of what’s happened, she tells herself it's to protect the younger witch, but she knows is not, like many things in the past week, since Raelle showed up in her life again, she’s find herself again wanting to protect her, to keep her away from other women too.

Its jealousy, Scylla’s a big girl, she can recognize it. 

But it doesn’t mean she’s okay with it. Raelle’s been clear about how she feels, about what she wants, and she had to push and poke to get Scylla to open up just a bit. Raelle kissed her, choose her to spend what could’ve been their last night, and yet Scylla doubts. 

There’s certainly better people out there, far less broken and fucked up. People who have not hurt Raelle, who have not broken her and themselves along the way. People Willa Collar didn’t send to their deaths to save her daughter, and who would willingly die to save her. 

Literally anyone who didn’t go behind her back and cut a deal with her mom. 

Like Louise and her big stupid crush, or Ashford and her cocky smile. 

Everything is such a fucking mess and this is what she chooses to focus on.

Abigail is in D.C pretending to be okay with Buttonwood’s bullshit, and that won’t go on for long, Tally is playing with fire on all fronts, and goddess knows what Petra’s doing.

“Should I put some brandy on your tea?” Izadora asks, and Scylla looks up to find the older witch smiling. 

“No that’s okay” she assures. 

Izadora puts the brandy bottle with the cups anyways “Very well then, help me take this to the living room, yes?” she passes her a platter with Taly’s cookies and they leave the kitchen. 

Anacostia, Tally and Raelle are already there, they stop their conversation when they walk in. 

“So let’s go over this” Anacostia takes her cup of tea and sits back down on the couch “Raelle, Scylla start from the beginning”

And they do, they start with the plane leaving Fort Salem, General Swythe and Louise showing up, and the Lieutenant’s confession to Scylla. Buttonwood waiting for them in the airport and her half veiled threats, the conversation with Petra where they first learned about the radical faction in the army, and their deal to choose the next Secretary when they got rid of Buttonwood. Louise being Spree and working with Willa, Willa’s deal to take out Buttonwood so the Spree wouldn’t intervene and kill her off, the last minute change of plan with Tally. How Petra and Buttonwood had show up at the house that night and they woke up chained in the basement. Another deal, this time by Buttonwood, to join her and Petra to get rid of Swythe, how Abigail had pretend to take the deal and Petra had let them go. How they run, contacted Tally and Louise and left D.C, and their adventures in that small town on the road. 

“Harding found us in the hotel, we had a protection seed around the room, but we let her in ‘cause we didn’t wanna get any extra attention” Raelle explains, she’s playing with her hands in her lap “She came in runnin’ like an angry bull, we manage to hold her down, but she had use off-cannon Work when she attacked me back in the Western Campaign, she can...could, she…”

“She could track her and hurt her too” Scylla says for her “I used a seed to knock her out and we were on our way out when Lieutenant Ashford came-”

“Wait, Grace Ashford?” Tally asks, but her question is directed at Raelle. 

Anacostia shakes her head, and Izadora is thankfully unaware of the reason for everyone’s reaction “Ashford’s a High Atlantic, right? Is she with Buttonwood?”

“No, her family maybe, but not her”

“You sound sure” Scylla can’t help the words, Raelle raises a brow curiously. 

“I am” she turns her attention back to the conversation “Harding must have grab her from base, she was suppose to take over tomorrow anyways”

She finishes telling them about of how they got here, how Izadora shot Harding, the blood everywhere and the colonel’s car is still out there somewhere in the road. 

“What happened when you were in the dungeon?” Izadora asks next, and of course it's her who makes the hard questions “You kind of skip over that bit. Abigail took the deal and left you with Buttonwood, then Petra let you go. What happened in between?”

“She...said some things, she probably thought she was going to kill us anyways so…” Scyla tries to explain but the memories of everything are hard to fight, especially now that she’s got more information about how they got there. Sold out by Willa. 

“She told us ‘bout Section 5” Raelle takes over, she looks at her with worried eyes before carrying on “What Alder put them up to in the war, Buttonwood and Swythe, Harding too. Uh, they send me to her on purpose, to get Willa to give 'em the Spree agents workin’ undercover, like Scylla...and she did…”

“Section 5” Anacostia says cleary thinking it over, she looks at Izadora who nods “There’s more to it than you know, before Buttonwood’s appointment as Secretary we were investigating them with Petra. We had reason to believe from some notes Alder left around that they shifted Section 5 into its final form against her command, and amassed enough power during the war to push political power into demanding she retire when the war was over”

Scylla is never going to be ready for this shit the generals keep pulling “So in theory, if that’s true, Alder wants them out too?”

Izadora nods and opens her mouth to talk, but Anacostia stops her with a soft touch to her arm.

“Alder’s not like she used to be” she explains and her attempt and not saying much only make Scylla more curious, and everyone else too if their looks say anything “Government reduce the number of biddies to four, and they won’t be renewing them as they die”

The answer, not surprisingly, comes from Tally “They’re killing her!”

Anacostia nods “Yes”

The conversation gets nowhere after that, Anacostia has to put on her “mom” voice according to Izadora to calm the situation down, and she takes advantage of the distraction to take Scylla and get to the basement. 

Two doors and a set of stairs later they reach the basement, it's a lot more welcoming that Petra’s basement.

It reminds her of the specialty’s building on Fort Salem, with the low lights and medical morgue vibe. Bookshelves occupy two full walls, the other two are occupied by shelves filled with potted plants and a variety of mushrooms under fluorescent lights. Two huge desks are covered in papers and science equipment is carefully lined on a work table against the wall between bookshelves. 

“I spend a lot of time here” Izadora explains and Scylla nods, she understands.

If she had a place to call home, somewhere where can see herself staying put for a long time she’d probably end up with a place like this. Izadora is everywhere in here, she can see how this is the general’s passion work.

The corpse clashes a bit with the rest, but she works around it. Harding’s body is lying on a table in the middle of the room, under the light she can see the damage of the shotgun that she hadn’t been able to distinguish before. It's a mess. 

“I made sure not to shoot near her vocal chords, just in case” Izadora catches her looking “We should get to work”

“How are we going about this?” she asks as she slips on the apron the general passes her way. 

Izadora turns to her looking interested “How do you want to go about it? Do you have any ideas?”

Not particularly. But then again she always had to work in a hurry “Uh, no”

“Excellent” 

She looks with interest as the general goes around the room picking different ingredients. 

“Uh, what are you doing general?” 

Izadora stops and looks at her from where she is, on her knees by the last row of plants picking at leaves “Herbal tea”

Herbal tea. Scylla doesn’t see how that helps with the corpse. 

“So, you said Harding was using off-cannon Work, can you describe it?” Izadora asks as she continues her hunt for the herbal tea ingredients.

“She said she put “a little extra something on her scourge” the night she attacked Raelle” Scylla looks at the body of the woman as the words leave her mouth, she hates her even now “And she used a seed sound to choke her, I don't know how she did it, but it was powerful Work, scary too"

Izadora stops "You said she choke her?"

"Yeah, well, Raelle didn't say anything, but it was obvious she was struggling to breathe" Scylla recounts and she gets chills from the memory.

Izadora comes back, her tea apparently long forgotten "How did she link with Collar to be able to choke her? Did she struggle to do it?" 

"It didn't appear as if she struggled, she just sing the seed and Raelle choke" she can see the general's brain working around this problem that has presented.

"What about Collar's will? It would take strong witch to break through, she's a strong one" she looks to the corpse lying on the medical table "What did you do, Julia?" 

"I don't think she'll answer, general" Scylla comments, and Izadora turns her attention to her with a wide smile.

"She will, and I know just how, we're going to need Craven's assistance"

She goes back up stairs to get Tally, leaving her alone with Harding's body. Scylla finds the general's long forgotten bag where she was picking ingredients. Better make herbal tea than hang out with the corpse. 

Izadora returns short after followed by Tally, who takes in the room with wide eyes, finally she sees the body and grimaces. She stops next to her.

"Rae is talking with Anacostia, but maybe go check on her when we're done here" she tells her.

Scylla immediately worries "Is she okay?"

"Oh, you put the tea already" Izadora breaks their conversation and offers Tally an apron too "Let's have a cup and get to work"

Why is she so obsessed with tea, Scylla doesn't know, she accepts the offered cup and takes a sip, it's good, just the right amount of sweet and the mix of herbs is...making her lightheaded? She looks up to see that the general is not drinking.

"General, did you drug us?" she’s not jumping to conclusions here, this is Izadora L’Amara, she would do this shit. 

"No! Its just to make the linking stronger, it helps you relax" Izadora takes the cups from them, and sits down on her comfy looking leather coach "I've been working on this method for a while, saving the birds and all that, Anacostia and I tried the linking before with good results. But the corpse is a new addition so, this is also a test run"

"You drug us!" she can't believe she actually fell for it.

Tally nods and raises her hand as if to ask a question, but doesn’t wait for the general to actually allow her to “Uh, why did you and General Quartermaine needed-? Nevermind”

Izadora rolls her eyes "Is not a drug. Now stop fighting and relax so you can link" 

None of them move, clearly Tally is on the same page as her. They want explanations. 

"Fine. I'll explain. This not ordinary Work, with cannon Work we can only hear what the deceased has to say and we’ve learned it can be manipulated” her eyes are on her for a second to long, before she carries on “So for the past couple of years I’ve been trying to find a way for someone to link with the body and see their memories, and I know you’re going to tell that we can already do this, but not like this”

Scylla doesn’t have time or dramatic pauses “General!”

“You two will link, the tea helps you relax, so you won’t be as aware of the linking as you might be without it. When you’re comfortable with it, Scylla will reach into Harding’s consciousness, use whatever seed you usually use. I think it would be useful to think of Collar when you do, to ground yourselves into the right track of memories. Now, since Collar is pretty prominent subject on Harding’s subconscious, Craven as a Knower I need you to steer the path of the memories, it's up to you to take us in the right direction and to the information we’re looking for. That’s all, no questions allowed, shall we?”

Tally raises her hand again “What will you do?”

“Take notes” Izadora stands up and positions both of them where she think it will be better “Also, this is some strong Work, so I’ll be here to make sure nothing wrong happens”

“How reassuring” 

Izadora ignores her and sits back down on her couch, she takes a notepad and a pen and Scylla cannot believe the woman, regardless she does as told. They have an important mission after all, Tally takes her hand and Scylla shakes her head a little and closes her eyes trying to clear her mind, hopefully no one will see into no one's mind. But the general’s tea is good because she can almost instantly feel the connection to Tally, she can feel her nervousness, or maybe it's hers? But it calms down after a minute, as their breathing gets even and Tally nods her permission for Scylla to do her part. 

And the general was right, it takes a great amount of energy to both keep the link with Tally and reach into Harding’s consciousness at the same time. Sure she has recharged recently, but it still takes her a couple minutes to manage it, and it's only when sensing her struggle Tally helps, that she gets it right.

She can feel the moment she’s in, starting from the tip of her fingers touching the colonel’s forehead, and it spreads into her body. Is much stronger than it usually is when she does it alone or without whatever was in the tea, but she closes her eyes and its not darkness she sees, but a modern looking office where Buttonwood and Swythe are casually lounging in comfortably looking leather couches.

She hears Tally gasp behind her “We’re in Fort Salem, look in the window”

And she’s right, that’s where they are she can see the barracks in the distance and hear voices of drill sergeants shouting. 

_“Collar, Lieutenant Raelle Collar, fixer, just graduated War College” Buttonwood says, and it brings Scylla’s attention back to what they are doing “Willa Collar’s only kid. And we’re giving her to you, she’s Alder’s beloved Witchbomb, but she has not yet learned how to go boom when asked, so the general's giving her to us to be deployed, maybe she’s of no use as a bomb, but we can surely use her to get to her dear mommy”_

_Harding laughs and takes the folder from the general’s hands “I think in the Cession they say mamma, general”_

_All three laugh, before Harding speaks again “What should I do with her?”_

_“I’m sure you’ll think of something” Swythe offers “She’s soft, like most fixers are, show her where she belongs, that Cession rat”_

“So this is Section 5?” Tally asks and before waiting for answer she takes a decision “We should keep looking, I don’t think we’ll get anything here”

They keep moving through Harding’s memories as if it were a movie, the Sudanese Campaign shows them Harding trying to push foreign witch armies into an alliance while they were supposed to be protecting a small but growing village of strong witches from the Camarilla. And in a more surprising turn of events, the link allows them to feel what the colonel felt, and she cared for Raelle at first, it catches them by surprise, that she was being an actual mentor to her, teaching her to lead and taking her under her wing, and they see when it changed too, when the alliance with the other witch armies fell apart and Harding gave the order for her troops to stand back when the Camarilla attack came.

_“You can’t do that Major!” a younger Raelle comes running to Harding “They will die!”_

_“That’s the point, Collar! No go back to your tent!”_

_“No! I can’t stand down while they burn, Major!_

_“Raelle” Harding’s voice is a warning, but she feels conflicted “Go back inside”_

Scylla feels the the uneasiness build up, it's her or Tally or both, she knows what’s coming, what Buttonwood said was coming and she’s not sure she wants to stay and see, but Tally doesn’t get them to the next memory, Scylla feels all her emotions, she’s not sure what belongs to who anymore, they just feel.

_“Let us help” Raelle pleads with Harding._

_Harding looks away, two witches come into view, tall and strong “Take her to her tent, make sure she doesn’t leave”_

_Raelle wind-strikes them and they fall heavily into the barrier protecting the camp from the attack happening around them._

They feel the change in Harding, as if she’s sensing the danger, the word Witchbomb is on the tips of her tongue _“Collar…”_

_But her words are interrupted by the shouts of agony of the surrounding camps and the village, the fire consumes everywhere their eyes land on, tents and houses, animals and people._

_“Major, you need to let us help!_

_“I need to do nothing you say Collar!” anger is all she feels now, anger at this young witch who dare defy her in front of everyone, maybe she shouldn’t have let her grow close, she’s a Cession shitbird after all and as a cession shitbird maybe she too should burn, she laughs at the younger witch “Just stand down, you’re making a fool of yourself!”_

_But Raelle is far to gone, there’s people trying to get into the camp now, not the Camarilla, witches singing seeds to try to break through the barriers, others are just desperately hitting the invisible thing with their bloodied fists._

_“Let me help” Raelle’s defeated words and the sob that follows breaks her heart, maybe Tally’s too is still all very confusing, but Raelle falls to the floor a second later and when her body hits the ground the witchbomb goes off._

_And it's as if everything else is an echo of her fall, the barrier falls, the camarilla soldiers collapse on the spot, the fire vanishes in a breeze and then, its falls on her._

_The flames fall on her like rain, covering her from every side and she throws herself to the floor rolling in a desperate attempt to shut it off._

"She was too late" comes Tally's voice and she points around them at the desolates land "I read about it, less than fifty witches survived"

"We need to focus" Scylla reminds her, and maybe herself too, they shouldn’t be seeing this. 

With renewed determinations they work around the colonel’s memories looking for information they need, they see Section 5 grow beyond Alder’s control, they stand with Harding behind Buttonwood as she strikes a deal with a military tech company. 

It all starts to fall into place after that, Swythe doesn’t like dealing with humans so she takes a step back and Buttonwood takes over, she takes the power like it was always meant to be hers and Harding stays by her side like a loyal dog, and for that she gets her reward, Buttonwood offers her to sends her to the Western Campaign. 

_“I can have Swythe send you over, to oversee the troops, Collar’s there, I know you want to get your revenge and this is your chance Julia, but you got to do this one thing for me”_

_They’re in the Section 5 office in Fort Salem, Swythe's not there, and Buttonwood is sitting behind her desk in front of an open briefcase._

_“Of course I’ll go, what do you want me to do?”_

_Buttonwood beckons her closer to see the inside of the briefcase._

Scylla doesn’t see anything at first, is a circular container and it looks empty, Buttonwood lift it up into the light and she can finally see a minuscule transparent thing, it reminds her of the beads she used to make bracelets and necklaces when she was a kid. 

“What is that?” Tally asks. 

_“I’m calling it a linker” Buttonwood explains “Its what we paid those scientists for, and I think you’re going to like it, you put this on Collar and it creates a point for you to link to no matter where she is, it activates with a seed sound you choose”_

“Fuck” Tally nods in agreement. 

Fuck doesn’t feel enough, though.

So far they’ve seen stuff they already knew or saw coming, but they need to know what comes next, what is Buttonwood planning? What's Swythe’s place in all of this? And Petra, fucking hell.

The pressure is overwhelming. Tally puts a hand on her shoulder “Breathe, Scylla, we’ll get what we need”

She moves them through the memories again, they see Harding put the “linker” in the tip of her scourge when she goes to attack Raelle, the hands pushing her face deeper into the mud to make sure the linker was stuck into her injured skin. Alder coming to camp and giving her a medal. 

_“You crossed a line Harding, I’m sending you back to Fort Salem, stay away from Collar”_

_“You don’t tell me what to do general”_

_Alder’s face contorts in anger “That is an order, Colonel, stay away”_

Finally they make it into Abigail’s house where an agitated Buttonwood is pacing the room shouting about how they can’t have just escape. 

_“If you’re double crossing me Bellweather I will make you regret it!” she shouts “Both of you. Julia go get them, take someone with you”_

_“How are you planning in finding them?” Abigail asks._

_“Wouldn’t you love to know that?” Buttonwood laughs and walks away, Harding following behind her “Go get them, I don’t need them alive, just dealt with. Is everything ready for Swythe on tuesday’s meeting?”_

_“Yes, we’ll be done with her by tuesday, Secretary, should we start the plans for the Bellweathers?”_

_“No, I might need Petra still, she’s got power we don’t. The younger one though, I wouldn't oppose an accident, I don’t trust her”_

A cold hand on her shoulder shakes her away, Tally too. 

“That is enough” Izadora’s voice seems distant and far away, but the general doesn’t let it deter her, the cold hand leaves her shoulder to grab at her hand on Harding’s forehead and pulls away. 

Scylla falls to the floor gasping for air, she feels the link die down and she’s herself again, out of breath and exhausted, but back to the real world.

Izadora gives each one of them a glass of water, Scylla looks up slowly, she feels heavy. 

“Is just water this time, Ramshorn, I promise” she waits until they drink their waters “Okay now tell me what you saw”

Between her and Tally they go over what they saw and Izadora takes notes, asking brief questions from time to time. She’s most interested about the linker. 

“So if Buttonwood knows the seed she could be tracking her right now” she says, clearly not talking to them “We need to get it off her, and find a way to find them on other witches”

“I got a good look at the one in Raelle, maybe i can try to see if there’s one on Harding, but I don’t know ‘cause I never saw it on Rae, I mean I wasn’t looking for anything but-”

Izadora nods for Tally to try anyways. She takes a couple of minutes, frowning at the corpse before giving up “I don’t see anything”

“Then we have to get rid of the body and keep moving” Izadora crosses her arms over her chest “We need Willa”

She doesn’t need to link with Tally to know that other witch feels the same way about this. 

“No way!” Tally shakes her head “Rae won’t want that. 

The general ignores her, turning her attention to Scylla “I know about your deal with Willa”

Scylla ignores Tally’s searching eyes “How?”

“She called me, I was the one to help you if you needed to run” Izadora explains, way to calm for everything that is currently happening “I heard from Louise Swythe too, this morning, I didn't know she was of hers”

“You’re Spree”

“Is far more complicated than army or spree, I think you know that, both of you” the general’s calmness never wavers “There's a grey zone, that's where Willa and I stand. We have an understanding. I will talk to her and, get her to come. She’s a fixer and we can trust her, especially since its about her daughter. We need to get the linker off Collar”

She has a point and Scylla hates that she’s right. Izadora dismisses them for the night, and they go back up stairs in silence. 

Tally gives her a week smile "Talk to her" she says, and walks away somewhere in the house. 

Scylla makes a stop in the kitchen for a second glass of water. The feels the heavy burden of everything that has happened since she got onto that stupid plane, her secrets, the memories she saw of Harding, and Buttonwood new plan of action, and the one thing in her mind is that she needs to find Raelle. Anacostia catches her as she about to go upstairs to try her luck in locating her bedroom. 

“You’re full of secrets aren’t you?” 

Scyla stops and turns to face the general 

“Necros are so complicated” Anacostia keeps talking “They make you do all the heavy work while they’re outside picking mushrooms and dancing in the moonlight”

“That’s not-”

Anacostia laughs “I know. But so do you, get my point I mean, right?”

“Uh…”

“Goddess, just go away, she’s in the second room to the right” the general dismisses her with a hand. 

With a sigh Scylla gets up the stairs and tries to follow Anacostia’s instructions, she knocks on the door she hopes is Raelle’s and waits. 

Raelle opens the door and stands in there with a curious expression “How did it go?”

“Can I come in and maybe tell you all this in private?” she asks instead of answering, she feels like she walking on eggshells here, one wrong step and she’s sure it could all be over. 

Worried blue eyes stare deeply into her “Scylla, what-?”

“Let me in?” she asks again. 

Raelle moves from the door and Scylla sighs, step one of one hundred completed, now to those other ninety-nine. She breaks away from her racing thoughts when she her eyes land on Raelle’s uniforms hanging on the open closet, shoes lined up under, how-? She keeps looking around, there’s a small bookshelf with three books and variety of knick knacks occupying the rest of the space, the old looking book and notepad open over the desk, the pens and pencils in disarray around the working space, finally her eyes land on the Necro flag, like the one she had in her old room in Fort Salem, that is hanging on the wall of what she’s more and more sure is not a guest room, but Raelle’s room. 

“Is this your-? You have a room in the Anacostia and Izadora’s house?”

“Yeah, it's, uh...we all did at some point, Tally and Abi too, they took their stuff when they left and I never came to pick ‘em up” Raelle explains, she’s playing with her hands again. 

“And the flag…?”

Raelle eyes fall on the flag and a hint of red colors her cheeks, “Yeah, Izadora got that one for me as a present, can you believe she had the audacity to wink when she gave it to me?”

Scylla can believe it. But she lets it go for now, she walks purposefully to Raelle and takes her hands. Raelle eyes follow every move with curiosity.

“Let’s sit down and talk, yeah?” she tries to sound calm, but maybe she’s not as subtle as she thought.

Raelle let’s out and adorable giggle, and releases her hands to take Scylla’s face, she caresses her jaw with one hand while the other one goes to her shoulder, she kisses her briefly, but stays close to whisper “Relax, Scyll”

“I can’t”

Raelle pulls away “Okay. Then talk to me, what’s goin’ on?”

She can’t do it. It's too hard and she immediately misses Raelle’s hands on her skin. 

“I just… its hard”

“So let’s, uh, let’s lay here for a bit and you can’t tell me when you’re ready” Raele offers and Scylla really can’t resist it, ‘cause what of this is the last time she she gets to be with her like this? 

The silence is heavy, but maybe it's only her who feels it that way. Raelle seems more calm than earlier, relaxed even, her hold on her waist is light, almost as if she’s not afraid Scylla will run away. 

It breaks her heart all over again. 

“I...I can’t, I have to tell you” she sits up, and Raelle follows the movement with surprise, she sits up too and still knows her enough to not try to reach out “Fuck, where do I start?”

“The...beginning?”

She smiles despite herself and Raelle smiles too, she looks pretty proud of herself for that. 

“We were working on Harding, I... saw her memories, we were trying to see who send her after us. But I saw other stuff too”

Raelle seems to understand “You saw when she attacked me”

“And Sudan too” she says quietly. 

“Oh, I-”

Scylla takes her hand “No, there’s nothing to explain, what she did was wrong and awful. Your reaction was…”

“Out of control”

“I understand, that’s what I’m trying to say, she was hurting people, Rae, if I could, I would’ve done the same thing” she looks at their joined hands “And we’ll talk more about everything else we learned in the morning, but there something else I have to tell you”

Raelle nods slowly. 

“Your-” she takes a deep breath, but it doesn’t help, she’ terrified of what she’s going to say “Willa is coming. I had a deal with her, through Louise, I needed to know we had a plan in case it all went to shit with Buttonwood’s party and I don’t know if its still on, or what because it never-”

She shaken by her shoulders and she doesn’t know what’s happening but Raelle’s face comes into focus a second later “Hey, calm down” her words are soft and she doesn’t look angry. 

“You’re not angry?” she asks, and hates how much of what she’s feeling comes out in her voice. 

Raelle doesn’t answer for a long minute “I’m...conflicted. You were tryin'to protect us, weren’t you?”

She nods, incapable of forming actual words. 

“Scylla, why do you feel like you have to carry the weight of the world alone? You’re not alone, you have people, you have me” 

It's the earnestness of the words that gets to her. The way Raelle doesn’t leave place for doubt. She remembers letting her guard down, letting people in and how that worked out for her. 

“You don’t have to pretend to be okay with everythin’ that’s happenin’, Scyll, with everythin’ that has happened. I know you will always protect me, but I will protect you too, and I wanna be someone with whom you don’t have to pretend to be okay” 

And how the fuck do you answer to that? Raelle doesn’t push for answer, she waits, and Scylla loves that about her. 

“You are too kind”

Raelle smiles, broad and light and happy “Learn it from my pop”

She’s sure of that, that Raelle got all her good traits from her father, maybe her smile too. But she has one more thing to say, and this one is hard, ‘cause despite all they’ve said, she can’t actually protect Raelle from this, not alone at least. 

“There’s one more thing” she begins and she can see the dread in the other girl. 

“ ‘s not gonna be good if you let it for last, right?” 

So perceptive “We learned, from Harding’s memories, how she managed to track you, it isn’t Work, well not completely, that is. Its tech”

“What you mean tech? She put something on me?” Raelle pulls her hand away to touch at her neck.

Scylla can see her beginning to panic, she puts a hand on her leg to try and keep her grounded “It some sort of tech, we’re not sure, but Harding could link with it, without you knowing and use it to track you and...choke you, we don’t know what else...or who else might be able to use it, that’s why Willa’s coming, we want to try to remove it”

Raelle nods, she puts her hand on top of Scylla's "And you'll stay with me? When she's here"

"If that is what you want, yes" 

"It is, I do, I...fuck, Scyll, I feel like we just keep learning more and more crap and its-. How do we win this thing?" she sounds scared, and she should be, Scylla is scared too.

"I don't know" she admits quietly "But we're not alone, remember? We have Anacostia and Izadora, Tally and Abigail, and-"

"My mom" 

"And maybe Petra, and I guess Louise too, we might have a slight chance" 

Raelle smiles at that "I'm so glad that I got you back, even if its under this ridiculous circumstances, I wanna runaway with you, get a house on the beach, I think I was promised swimmin' "

Swimming. She wants to go swimming. Scylla throws her hands around her waist and they both fall into bed "We'll get over this, I'm going to punch Asswood in her ugly face and then we'll go to the beach"

"I like that plan" Raelle nods, bringing their faces closer "I like that plan a lot, I like you too. Can I kiss you, Scyll?"

Scylla laughs, she'll never be ready for the way Raelle keeps making everything a little bit lighter, makes smiling easier, she lies on her back and pulls at Raelle until she's on top of her "I'd like that" 

"What did Izadora make you do? Do we need to recharge you?" Raelle asks, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Scylla laughs, she's so silly sometimes "Are you okay, Rae? With everything I told you?"

Raelle smiles wavers for a second "I'll be, if you stay with me, and let me kiss you"

"Yeah, okay, not going to say no to that, I was just checking"

Raelle doesn't answer, not with words anyways. 

But Scylla trusts they'll be okay, there's something new between them, light and open, and just the right amount of rebellious and wild. She's going to fight for this thing between them.

And they have real information now.

It's time to make some moves of their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on tumblr @realbluedragon


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone here's the new chapter!  
> Enjoy and have a good weekend!

She’s having a nightmare and Scylla wakes her up to help her calm down. 

“Hey, it's okay” she rubs her back slowly and holds her close “She can’t hurt you anymore”

“How did you know?” she asks surprised. 

And a second later they both reach the same conclusion “We linked by accident”

They stay like that for a long while after. The sun is beginning to rise which means Anacostia will be up soon. They always help her make breakfast and she'll want to know what happened in the basement last night. 

“I think we slept for like twenty minutes” Scylla whispers against her skin raising goosebumps in her path “How are you feeling?”

That’s a hard one to answer. She’s not done processing what happened in the hotel. But so much has happened in the last couple of days. Talking with Tally and Anacostia helped a little, but then Scylla came with even more news. 

A piece of tech attached to her neck. She touches her scars nervously wondering where it is. It makes sense that Buttonwood would invest in tech, after all the Camarilla used tech against them. The only reason the army never did was because Alder was against it. 

Is not a bad idea on abstract. But it's a lot harder to accept when you are the test subject.

Scylla notices what she's doing and moves her hands away to replace it with her lips. She puts soft kisses over the marred skin. 

“I spoke with Anacostia last night, that helped” unconsciously her grip on Scylla's waist relaxes “And then you came and we talked too. I guess I’m still processing, but we don’t have all the time in the world”

“What did you and Anacostias talked about?” Scylla asks her, as she continues to leave kisses over her scars.

Raelle remembers last night’s talk and smiles too “She, uh, we talked about what’s been happenin’, she asked me if I had to talk to my mom. Do you think she knew 'bout your deal with her?"

Scylla pulls away to face her, she nods looking conflicted “Izadora did. Do you want to talk some more? About what you were dreaming maybe?”

Harding. Of course she was dreaming of her, its all she can think of. 

“I’m glad she dead” and she is, it's like she can breath easier “But I can’t stop thinkin’ ‘bout her daughter”

Scylla looks like she understands “Lieutenant Harding. You danced with her at the party, right?”

“Yeah, she’s good you know, nothin’ like her mom, and I can’t stop thinkin’ that she must be wond'rin’ where her mom is. And she’s not comin’ back”

Instead of saying anything, if there is something to say at all, Scylla brings her closer and kisses her forehead. She stays there, giving her time to gather her thoughts and get it all out.

“I thought about killin’ her, I’ve wanted Harding dead for so long. But I could’ve never done it, I couldn’t live with myself knowin’ her daughter was hurtin’ like i did when my mamma died” she pauses to take a breath “Remember what that was like Scyll? When we first met?”

  
  
“I do” 

"I was hurtin' so much I was ready to throw myself at whatever battlefield to die" 

Is Scylla now, go grips her arm "I don't want to think of that, you're alive and here, with me. We're going to be okay"

They are gonna be okay. 

“We should get up” she says, but makes no move to actually stand up. She's not ready to let go yet. 

Scylla doesn't seem like she wants to let go either, and so they don't.

They stay in bed for a while. The house is quiet and the sun slowly rises in the sky. She watches the sunlight dance in Scylla’s skin.

“You’re beautiful” she holds onto Scylla’s hips and brings their foreheads together. 

Scylla smiles, she looks so soft in this moment “Are we bringing the whole beautiful thing back?”

Her smile, makes her smile too. Maybe it's the memory of all those mornings waking up next to her and calling her beautiful, ‘cause Scylla was and still is. No one should ever let her forget “I think I should” she holds for a bit, catches Scylla eyes “Mornin’ beautiful”

“Well now I don’t want to get out of bed” 

“Same...but our future kind of depends on us gettin’ outta bed and doin’ shit. I do think we deserve a kiss, though”

Scylla nods “One kiss sounds fair”

Downstairs they find Anacostia already making breakfast. She barely looks up as she continues to stir the eggs. Tally comes up from behind them and grabs an apron. Anacostia nods approvingly and turns to the two of them. 

“What are you two waiting for? Help out, breakfast won’t magically manifest itself on your plates”

Raelle grins and lets go of Scylla’s hand to help the general. Scylla joins Tally cutting fruit. 

“Your mother will be here in the afternoon” Anacostia speaks quietly, never taking her eyes of the eggs “Iza told me about the linker thing too, very briefly. How are you holding up with everything?”

“You trained me to be a good soldier, general, and I am” 

Anacostia stops stirring the eggs and looks at her with a small smile “I don’t need you to be a soldier right now, Raelle, that can come later. You’ve gone through so much shit already, now is when you get to breath and relax. You can fall apart here and I'll hold you. You can be a soldier in a few hours, but I want you to be just Raelle for now. Tell me how you feel"

She nods and the general goes back to her eggs giving her some time to sort out her feelings.

And there are so many. 

For once she's scared for Abigail, alone in D.C, not really knowing who to trust. She hopes she got Scylla's message from Louise and hopefully they'll meet again soon and know what Petra's playing at.

She's scared of what Buttonwood is planning too, and for that linker thing to. Despite Scylla's reassurance and kisses, she's not gonna be okay until its out of her.

Come to think of it, fear is most of what she feels. 

“I’m scared”

It’s almost a whisper, but it feel releasing to say it out loud, to someone who isn’t Scylla, who has not been next to her as it all went down. She allows herself to feel the fullness of her emotions. Anacostia stays by her side, slowly stirring the eggs, when she’s done with them she puts them aside and starts the pancakes. 

It feels safe in here. 

Anacostia is different when she’s outside Fort Salem, out of her uniform. Raelle likes her better this way. 

The general puts a hand on her shoulder to remind her that she’s there if she needs it. And she’s thankful. 

Always will be thankful for this family she has found.

They finish making breakfast rather quickly. Or maybe it’s because she was too distracted to notice how much time has passed. They get everything on the table by the time Izadora strolls through the patio doors. 

The general looks disheveled, like she spent the whole night running through the surrounding woods. Knowing Izadora, maybe she did. Nothing is really outside the realm of possibilities with her.

The general smiles in answer to Anacostia’s glare. 

“Don’t be mad, Ana, I told you I’d be home by breakfast” Izadora walks to her and kisses her cheek sweetly. 

“Wash your hands” Anacostia mutters and turns to them with what’s left of her glare “Well, sit down!”

Izadora comes back quickly. She has removed her jacket and shakes her head trying to get rid of the dirt in her hair as she sits down across from Anacostia on the table.

“Okay, lay it on me” Anacostia says as she drinks her coffee “What happened last night?”

Izadora looks between Tally and Scylla with an unreadable expression “We did the procedure. Craven and Ramshorn will be able to better explain what they learned”

It’s sufficiently democratic that she almost misses the fact that the general is taking a step back from explaining. 

Scylla puts down her fork and takes a sip of her tea “Okay, Tally, help me out if I forget anything”

It takes her a long while to explain everything. They finish almost as breakfast ends. And Raelle adds it all to the list of things to process. But the most concerning at the moment is Buttonwood’s suspicion of Abigail and her plans to get rid of her and of Swythe at the Council meeting tomorrow.

The mention of the “linker” on her neck makes her shudder and Tally takes her hand. 

“Thanks” she mutters quietly. 

Anacostia takes it all in stride, she nods along as Scylla talks. Raelle can imagine her taking notes in her mind and planning. It’s what they all should be doing, but she can’t bring herself to do it too. She’s never been one to make plans, but she will follow whatever plan they come up with. She trusts them with that. 

“Do we know if Abigail knows that you two made it out?” Anacostia asks, almost as soon as Scylla finishes speaking.

“I spoke with Louise, asked her to pass her a message that we had escape and were leaving town, but we don’t know if she got it” Scylla tells the general. 

“I actually found this on the car yesterday” she had almost forgotten about it with everything that happened in the hotel and since, but she has had Abigail’s medal in her pants pocket this whole time, she passes it to Anacostia “Its Abigail’s medal, she must have mine”

Anacostia takes it and observes it carefully, before passing it to Izadora, who chuckles.

“For escaping death in China, I remember this. So we believe that Abigail knew Petra was letting you go” she gives the medal back and waits for everyone to nod “I think we should move on then. Bellweather is a badass, we need to trust she can take care of herself. Buttonwood is making moves of her own, she has power. We need to make some moves, get some power of our own”

Scylla nods and Raelle lift an eyebrow in surprise. She’s still not sure they should let Abigail to her own devices. 

“We need to make a big move, let Buttonwood know it’s not just you, me and Abigail who oppose her” Scylla explains her line of thought “She thinks she can erase us cause it’s just the three of us. But we need to send a message she can’t ignore, that we won’t let her get away with this”

Realistically Raelle knows Scylla is right, and a quick look at the women on the table tells her that so do everyone else, but she can’t help but notice that once they go through with this there will be no backing down. 

They will be at war again. 

She sighs “So what do we do?”

And that’s how they end up meeting with Sarah Alder. 

Raelle isn’t sure what she expected the former general’s house to look like but she pleasantly surprised to find no bones lying around. The room where they are lead into by a butler is tastefully decorated and the couches where they sit look old and expensive. 

She feels out of place. 

To make matters worse, Anacostia had them wear their uniforms and ever since she learned of the linker she’s been nervously touching her neck. The stiff uniform jacket is not helping. 

Alder looks…different. That’s what she’s sticking with. Scylla leans closer and whispers that the general looks like crumpled paper. She has to force herself not to laugh. But the look of delight on Scylla’s face makes the prospect of getting her ass kicked by Anacostia completely worth it. 

Alder walks into the room followed by her four biddies, and even though she looks much older, she’s still carries herself with that air of dignity that commands any room. Scylla’s the only one who seems unaffected by her presence. 

“Anacostia” Alder greets the general as she sits down, she pours bourbon in a set of glasses on the table “What brings you here? It’s been a while since your last visit”

“It has, I’m sorry, Fort Salem keeps me busy” Anacostia takes the glass of bourbon in her hands but doesn’t drink “We actually came to see you hoping you could help us”

Alder looks surprise by her words, and she finally takes in the three other people in the room. She sits back down on the couch and crosses her legs as she carefully observes them. She smiles softly when she sees Tally. 

“I heard you had left the Army, and I see it was true. I hope you are well, Tally” she says and the two share a look. 

“I am, thank you, Sarah”

Alder nods and turns back to Anacostia “Help with what?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard of Buttonwood’s moves in the capital”

“Oh I heard” Alder scoffs “Not that it was a surprise. I did not built the Witch Army for it to end in the hands of someone as unworthy as Buttonwood and her band of special little crybabies”

Scylla snorts and the eyes of the general fall on her. 

“The fact that not only you escaped my dungeon, but also managed to survive ten years of war will never not surprise me, Ramshorn”

Scylla clenches her jaw “I did to spite you, of course”

Alder shakes her head and turns her attention back to Anacostia “I do not see how I might be of help, or if I want to”

“We want to take out Buttonwood, general” Raelle says, she’s getting bored of everyone not going to the point. Alder looks at her with curiosity “And you have to help”

“And why is that, Collar? Why do I have to help you?” 

“Because you created Section 5. It was you who gave Buttonwood and Swythe their power. And they used it to take you out, but you owe it to all witches to fight back and help us take them out” she stops, and takes a deep breath “Maybe you don’t like us. I’m my mother’s daughter and Scylla was Spree, and you hate all that we are. But everything we are is because you made it that way. You owe us”

Alder takes a sip of her bourbon as she considers her words. Anacostia gives her a small nod of approval, Tally grins and Scylla takes her hand and leans closer to whisper “That was hot”

“So I hate the Spree” Alder says after a few minutes of silent contemplation, she puts her glass down and stands up “But I have worked with them in the war, your mother amongst them. I’m not wrong to think they should pay for the crimes they committed before the war. It doesn’t make me a monster. Buttonwood made me a look like one. They said I lost myself in power, that I let it blind me and in doing so I hurt my sisters, but I always fought for them, for you. We’re on the same side here. Its people like Buttonwood and Willa Collar who hurt us all-”

“How does my mom hurt us?” she asks, and when Alder’s glare falls on her she doesn’t look away. 

“Your mother was a leader like me. We spent a lot of time together and we reached an understanding. Grew closer, I you may. In our many talks we discusses what was to come, we knew the world after the war was going to be different and we were in a position to be architects of our future. For all witches” she stops by the open window and for a minute she loses herself in her thoughts, she shakes herself a second later “She had a chance to be the civilian leader witches needed and instead she ran off back to your human father in the Cession”

Scylla’s hold on her leg is the only thing stopping her from jumping at the former general. 

“Leave my pop out of this” she says instead. 

Alder rolls her eyes and return to her seat “In the last months of the war Willa and I were making moves in D.C to get her appointed Secretary of Witch Affairs, we created the position. Buttonwood came in last minute and screwed us over, so Willa turn the tables on me, let me to fend for myself and accepted the amnesty that was offered to her”

“My mom was goin’ to be Secretary?” it isn’t a real question, or directed at Alder. She’s mostly trying to keep up with everything. But the former general doesn’t know that. 

Alder sighs, but nothing else indicates that she doesn’t want to talk about this matter. If anything it seems that she’s been waiting for the chance to do it “Yes, Collar, because despite my personal opinion of her and her brethren, she is a leader on the fight for witches freedom. I can recognize that”

“But you gave me to Buttonwood after War College, to use against my mother”

“I did not do such thing” Alder actually looks offended that she believes that “I specifically order them to stay away from you. I shut down Section 5 four years into the war. It wasn’t until much later that I came to learn they were still working under the radar. It was Willa who told me, the day you were attacked on the Western Campaign. She had knowledge that Section 5 was still running, but I suppose it was too late by then. They were too powerful”

She doesn’t have anything to say to that, and she remains quiet for the remind her of the meeting. They don’t get much more from Alder, and soon enough she’s tired and wants to retire to her study for the afternoon.

She stops them right as they’re about to go. 

“I will, uh, consider your proposition”

There is no proposition. They didn’t actually propose anything. Somehow it feels like they’ve learned a lot and maybe Alder will “consider their proposition” to help them? To side with them? To do something with them. 

The drive back from Alder’s house is silent. Raelle has lots of mixed feelings regarding everything that the former general said, her big long speech on her mother is puzzling to say the least. But then again she’s always been mystified by Alder.

Anacostia doesn’t try to make them talk, she seems to understand that with everything that’s been happening they need a minute to add this one to the list of things to process. Tally seems to be the most affected, but Raelle thinks is not so much what Alder said, but how Alder looked what is affecting her friend. 

She had once told her that being a biddy had changed a lot for her. Even after the link had been broken, she could still remember all that Alder had lived, and felt, in a way she cared for her. To see her like that must have been a real shock to Tally. 

They were all so used to see Alder has the fearless leader, strong and unshakeable, that it had shocked even her to see her looking so old and weak. The grey hair, the tired eyes, she couldn’t imagine how it must have been for Tally. And she doesn’t know what to say, so she puts her open palm on her sister’s leg and Tally smiles and takes the offer with a small relieved smile.

She bumps their shoulders together and mouths “Thanks"

Back in the house, Izadora calls for them to join her in the patio, and she’s not alone if the voices are any indication. 

Raelle can hear her mother. 

Anacostia stops them before they can reach the patio. 

“Sometimes I really hate her” she mutters, very much not talking to them, after a second she regains her composure and speaks to them “Okay, let’s go see what’s going on in my goddamn patio”

“So I guess you don’t like visits then” Scylla gives the general a smirk and Anacostia rolls her eyes and turns back to go outside. 

“Are you going to be okay with your mom here?” Tally asks her looking worried. 

Scylla waits for her answer too and Raelle looks at the three figures through the window “Only one way to find out. But if I throw a punch don’t stop me, yeah?”

Tally and Scylla laugh and nod their agreement to her conditions. 

“Then let’s go”

The moment she steps into the patio Willa is all she sees. She briefly takes note of Louise awkwardly waving, before her eyes land on her mother and she’s caught in the storm of feelings that seeing her still bring out of her. 

Willa locks eyes with her, and Raelle’s not sure if everyone is quiet or if it’s her who can’t hear them. 

“Raelle” her mother sounds nervous “Hi”

Raelle chuckles “Really? Hi?” 

Anacostia puts a hand on her shoulder “Let’s sit down, and talk” 

She points Raelle to the chair next to hers. It’s quiet for a whole minute that seems to stretch forever. Until Scylla breaks it. 

“We should probably skip to the part where you removed the linker from Raelle, no?”

Her mother sets her calculated stare between the two of them, and after a second she sighs “Before I do anything I need to know how this fits into our agreement to take down Buttonwood. Louise tells me you did get the information we needed but then Petra betrayed you. So where are we standing in all of this?”

“Are you sayin’ that your help is conditional?” she can’t believe the words her mother just utter “You’re not goin’ to take this thing of me if it doesn’ somehow help you?”

“Raelle, that is not what I said” Willa turns her attention to her and seems to soften “Of course I will help you, I just want to know what are we doin’ about Buttonwood”

She tries to shake off her anger, but she can’t. So instead she stands up and walks back inside the house. 

Two sets of steps follow after her. Scylla and her mom. 

“Raelle don't be so childish, this isn' ‘bout you. It's much bigger than you and me!” Willa says as she follows after her. 

She was really trying to let it go, but the words get to her “Well can it ever be 'bout me?” Willa stops in her tracks and Raelle knows its now or never “Or do ya only care 'bout me when it's not to my face, huh? Sendin' people to their deaths 'cause of your kid is all fine 'n well. But talkin to her face, actually bein' there, dunno, maybe explainin' anythin’, that's a big no, from all mighty fuckin' Willa Collar! She doesn' owe anythin' to anyone. Especially her daughter. Just once I'd like it for you to care 'bout me when it matters and to my fuckin’ face!”

Willa looks shocked, she sits down on the couch rubbing her hands together. 

“I joined the Spree ‘cause I wanted you to not have to go through everythin’ I did” she begins explain quietly “But it isn’t why I stayed. I love our family, Raelle I do, and maybe it was selfish of me to want to have it all, but the part of me who joined the Spree will never stop fightin’ ‘cause it’s the right thing to do”

She looks away from her mom to find Scylla standing by the door. The question clear in her eyes and she nods, she’ll be okay. Scylla walks back outside. 

She sits of the couch opposite to Willa “Maybe instead of goin’ behind our back and makin’ us go through losin’ ya, you should’ve trust us, trust me. You should have known I’d fight too”

“I didn’ want you too!”

“But I did!” she closes her fist over her legs to stop herself from throwing something “I did, and everythin’ you manage to do was make everythin’ harder for me! It wasn’ enough that I was from the Cession, that my father was a human. No, you had to fake your death and go on to become Spree! Send a spy to get me to join you when all you ever taught me was to do what’s right! You and your people were killin’ humans! Like pop! What did you thought would happ’n?”

Willa sighs, she seems to be lost for words and for the first time since she found out she was alive, Raelle doesn’t hate her. 

It’s weird, but when she looks at her she doesn’t see Willa, she sees her mom. 

She’s sees her just like when she was a kid and Willa would come back from a tour, quiet and distant, pulling into herself. She remembers hearing her cry in the middle of the night, waking up from a nightmare and find her in the kitchen drinking tea with the tv or the radio on, but she was never playing attention. 

And Raelle knows that pain intimately. She knows what is like to survive when so many others didn’t. To remember their faces and names. The fire, the dirt, the sounds. 

She will never forget the sounds. 

She can’t fault her mother for wanting to fight back a system that killed so many of them before. She might never accept her methods, but she will always understand her motives. 

“I know your life was hard, Rae” her mother’s voice is soft, but filled with an underlying pain that makes it impossible to ignore “I saw your struggles growin’ up and I knew Fort Salem would be more of the same. You are right that I went about it all wrong, but I would do anythin’ for you, you are my kid and I love you” she searches her eyes, trying to get her to listen, to understand “I’m sorry I put you through so much shit”

Raelle nods slowly. It feels like a lot to take in. It also feels like a weight has been lifted of her shoulders. 

“Okay, I...accept your apology” she begins and her mother looks relieved, Raelle feels only a little bit bad for what she’s gonna say next “But I’m not the only one you have to apologize with. When Buttonwood had us she told us about the Spree agents you gave them” 

Willa lets out a defeated sigh “I don’t expect you to understand, and maybe you’ll think I’m a terrible person, but in that moment...it was not hard at all to choose you”

“I thought you said it wasn’t about me”

“Easier said than done” Willa replies, she laughs dryly “I always knew I’d do anythin’ for you, but up until that moment I didn’ know just how far I was willin’ to go to protect you. I knew I’d had to live with it all my life, I could only hope you never found out. It's my burden to carry, Raelle. Those lives are not on you”

“Easier said than done” she repeats her mother’s words “We should get back”

They go back to the patio, where everyone pretends they didn’t hear everything they said. 

“I will help you” Willa says when she sits down an all eyes are on her and Raelle “Our fight is the same in the end, to take out Buttonwood and make the world better for witches, yes?”

Anacostia and Izadora share a look. 

“Very well” Anacostia looks at everyone with a firm expression “We know Buttonwood plans to take out Swythe in the meeting tomorrow, probably after Petra is named General of the Army. What do you know from your aunt Louise?”

The young lieutenant seems delighted to have all eyes on her “The general’s over the moon about tomorrow’s meeting. Before sending me here to get everything ready for tomorrow she had me pick up her uniform from the drycleaners and make sure every medal and token was ready and shiny. I can guarantee she has no clue she’s about to be double crossed”

“If I may” Willa speaks cautious and when no one stops her she speaks more surely “I know Swythe, if we can prove to her that Buttonwood is gonna betray her, we could convince her to jump on our side. She may be naïve enough to trust Buttonwood so far, but she’s not stupid. She has dirt on her”

They spend the following hour putting together a plan. Raelle takes a step back on the conversation happening around her. She trusts them, but she needs a breather from all this. 

She excuses herself and walks back inside the house. In her room she sits on the desk in front of the open windows and takes in the landscape, the open road, the green fields on the other side and the tall trees with its branches swinging lightly on the breeze. 

Its peaceful, beautiful too. 

Harding is really dead. 

Inhale, exhale. 

Abigail knows they escape. 

Inhale, exhale. 

They’re gonna see Buttonwood in the meeting tomorrow. 

Inhale, exhale. Slowly. 

She and Willa might be on the road to fixing their relationship. 

Inhale, exhale. 

Tally’s here. Anacostia and Izadora too. They have a chance at winning this. 

Inhale, exhale. 

Scylla loves her. 

Scylla loves her. And in the chaos of the world they found each other again. 

She’s not letting her go. 

A soft knock on the door alerts her that she’s not alone and she turns to find Scylla standing by the open door. 

“Hey” she says softly, a playfull smile on her lips “Tally wanted to check on you, but uh, I convinced her to let me do it”

Raelle stands up and Scylla walks in to meet her in the middle. 

“How are you?” Scylla asks, arms around her waist, her eyes search her face for any sign of worry.

“I’m good. I really just needed a minute away from everythin’. How did the plannin’ go?”

“Yeah, we have a solid plan. That Asswood bitch is not going to see it coming” her expression changes to something like worry a second later “Willa is, uh, she’s ready when you are to try to take out the linker”

Right. That thing on her neck. 

“And you’ll stay with me? While she does it?”

Scylla nods and leans in to kiss her “Are you ready?”

“No, but I’ve never been ready for anythin’ before” she takes her hand as they walk out of the room “And you’ll be with me”

She follows Scylla’s lead and they end up in the basement. She takes in the room with wide eyes.

“Wow”

Scylla nods “Yeah, you get used to it”

They walk to the middle of the room, where Willa and Izadora are talking. Tally is standing next to them. 

“You ready, Collar?” Izadora asks when she sees them. 

She nods, she nervous suddenly “Yeah…”

Willa and Tally look like they don’t believe her but don’t say anything. 

“Come sit here” Willa point to the medical table.

“Is that where…?”

“I put Harding’s body, yes. But I cleaned it” Izadora tries to reassure her. She fails awfully. 

Scylla pushes her softly towards the table and she hops in. All eyes are on her. 

Willa looks from her to the other people in the room “I just need Tally”

Izadora begins to walk away and stops when she sees that Scylla is not coming. 

“Ramshorn, you coming?”

"I…”

“We need you upstairs. Anacostia wants you to help with putting together the plan for tomorrow” Izadora explains. She seems unwilling to debate this matter “So say see you later to Collar, and come upstairs. We might be planning against a member of the President's Cabinet but this is still the US Army, and that is an order, sergeant”

Scylla rolls her eyes with her back turned to Izadora “Yes, ma’am”

Izadora turns to leave and Tally laughs “Damn, I’m glad I left the army. I do not miss that”

Scylla nods and takes her hand “I’ll see you in a bit, yeah?”

“Yeah, okay” she kiss her and Scylla pulls away quickly ‘cause her mom is standing right there. 

Scylla goes up stairs and she’s left alone with Tally and her mom in the room. Its huge, but it feels small almost instantly. 

“Tally is goin' to tell me where this linker thing is, yeah? And then” she grabs a scalpel showing it to her “I’m going to remove it”

“And then you’re going to heal her, right?” Tally asks, she looks between the two of them. 

Willa looks at her, waiting for her answer. 

“Ok”

She takes a deep breath and removes her shirt. Willa’s eyes are wide in shock, but she doesn't say anything. She moves aside to let Tally find the linker. 

Tally takes her hand and smiles softly in that way she always does to try to ease her into something “I’m not going anywhere, Rae” she turns to Willa and point a spot right over her sternum “There”

Willa nods and turns back to her bag, she pulls out a small box and rubs the ointment over her skin, she looks up when she’s done “Remember this?” 

She nods weakly. She remembers. 

“Why don’t you tell Tally, honey?” she holds the scalper over her sternum “Deep breath, Rae”

Deep breath. Right. The ointment numbs the pain, but she can still feel everything. Its a family recipe, she remembers her mom taught her how to prepare it when she was thirteen and her pop cut his finger making a cake. Willa was away a lot and somebody had to take care of him. 

  
  
She tells that to Tally and her friends nods along and lets her grip on her hand. 

Don’t look. She focuses on Tally’s face, but it doesn’t help. 

“Oh goddess!” her friends covers her face with a hand.

“Tal!” she grips her hand harder.

“Sorry” Tally whispers.

Willa shushes them “Rae, I’m gonna take it out. It might hurt”

It hurts. It feels as if her skin is being ripped off her. She’s sure everyone in the house heard her scream. 

She can barely make out her mother saying its out. 

Her eyes feel heavy all of sudden. She tries to grip on Tally’s hand but her limbs feel weak. 

What is happening?

Tally and her mom become blurred figures, she feels Willa's hands on her chest. The tips of her fingers are applying pressure over the injury. 

“Rae?” she thinks its Tally calling, but she’s not sure. 

Something shakes her off.

“Rae, darlin’, stay-”

She tries to hold her hand out, but it feels heavy. 

“Mamma, it... hurts”

“I know, baby, stay with me. Rae!”

“I’m…” she feels sleepy. Maybe she should take a nap “Wher’s Scylla?”

She feels hands in her face, and she thinks she’s being laid down. 

“ ‘m tired”

She closes her eyes. 

It's quiet suddenly. 

Peaceful. 

It feels good. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on tumblr @realbluedragon


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it me or this week kinda dragged on and on?  
> Anyways new chapter, enjoy and have a good weekend!

She is sleeping. 

That’s the conclusion Izadora and Willa arrive after hours of trying to figure out what went wrong. 

They move Raelle to her bedroom and long after everyone’s gone Scylla stays sitting in the desk chair where she found her a couple of hours ago. 

She was smiling then. Relaxed, even. She didn't know then what a gift that moment was.

Izadora says she’s fine. She and Willa worked out a theory on what might have happened. Harding was using the linker to track her, occasionally choke her and to stop her from fully charging up. Probably to stop another witchbomb from going off. 

According to the theory removing the linker depleted her of energy and that’s why she’s sleeping. 

It makes sense, Buttonwood is a control freak, Harding was a psychopath. But she’d feel more strongly about this if it wasn’t a theory and was supported with more than maybes. 

“She’ll wake up when she’s ready” Izadora tells her as she walks out. 

Scylla’s never been a believer of many things, but this one thing she wants to believe. 

A soft knock on the door finally makes her break away from Raelle’s asleep form under the bed covers. 

Tally stands by the door with two mugs, and when Scylla looks up she walks in. 

“I don’t think I can sleep tonight” she explains as she passes her one of the mugs “Figure you would be up too. I made us some tea”

Scylla breaths in the smell of herbs and takes a long sip “Thank you”

“Do you mind if I stay?” 

“No, please stay, I...I would like it if you stayed” she doesn’t think she can be alone with her thoughts right now. 

Tally smiles and puts her mug down before walking out of the room. She comes back a minute later with a chair.

“Abigail would be screaming if she was here right now” she says as she sits down, her eyes are on Raelle “I think I did my fair share of screaming too. But this dummy, she’s always putting herself in danger to save others”

Scylla smiles despite her somber mood. She can see Raelle doing that “She’s stubborn like that”

Tally nods and turns to look at her “Abi told me you’re our cousin now. I always wanted a cousin”

“Glad to be of service”

“You look....tired” the pause is an obvious sign that's not what she was going to say. But Scylla doesn’t interrupt her, so Tally keeps talking “I’m a good listener, if you ever want to talk”

Scylla doesn’t doubt that to be true. Tally is loud and excitable, but she’s loyal too. To Raelle, to Abigail. 

“I don’t think that’s-”

“You can trust me, Scylla” 

Something about the way she says it makes Scylla believe her, makes her think that she means it.

“It's not a good time, or...a good story”

Tally nods in understanding “I know. When we linked I could sense your nervousness, you didn’t want me to see into your memories”

“Did you?” she asks, and she can feel herself grow tense.

Tally puts a hand on her shoulder to help her relax “Of course not. Your memories are yours Scylla. You are the only one who should choose to share them. If you ever do wish to, I would listen”

“Why?” 

“Because you’re my cousin” Tally gives her a smile “Even before that, when we were in Fort Salem, I could tell you weren’t evil. I always wanted to know you better cause you made Rae happy, but not just that. There was something about you, even now, it's like you carry around your sadness. No one should have to do that alone, Scylla”

It's like Tally is knocking down all her walls and awaking all her ghosts. She closes her eyes trying to get some control back. It doesn’t work, Raelle is lying in the bed, and she won’t wake up. It feels like she’s losing her again. 

“Whenever I let people in, I always lose them” her voice trembles. She hates it. 

“You haven’t lost Raelle. She’ll fine, you said it she’s stubborn” 

“My parents, my team-” she stops herself. It's hard, cause there’s so much inside herself waiting to come out and she’s not strong enough to keep it under wraps. Not today. 

Tally doesn’t say anything, even though it's very obvious she wants to. Scylla is thankful for her silence. 

“I always thought it’d be Raelle who’d get me to have this conversation” she laughs dryly. Right about now she wishes Tally had brought something stronger than tea. 

“You don’t have to tell me” 

But she wants to. They have an important day ahead, and Raelle is probably not going to be there for it. She needs to be focused on what they have to do, not all the bad things that have happened before. And Tally is the one person who is the least involved in all this.

“I had a team, when I worked with Petra. There were four of us” she takes a deep breath “I was the leader, I failed. They are all gone now, and it's on me”

“I don’t believe that” Tally sounds so sure. 

Scylla wishes she could be half as sure “But it is. I should have known”

She should have known. 

The shaky voice that wasn’t Petra’s, the way the instructions clashed with the ones given the week before. 

“We were moving east towards France. We had been following intelligence on a network of safe houses where the camarilla kept their tech and weapons. When we started in England there were only two or three people keeping guard in the houses. But as it became more obvious that someone was taking them out they started putting small armies to protect the houses. We still got the job done. And the intel we got from them we send to Petra”

She takes a sip of her tea and turns to Tally unsure of what expression she’ll find in her face. Tally doesn’t say anything, 

“Everything changed in the last few months” she’s aware of the way her voice trembles and she takes a deep breath before carrying on “The messages were more scarce, she’d call and give us four or five targets, had us send the intel on a secure chanel and wait for no answer. We had five targets in Spain, the last one was in Valencia. That’s where we were caught by the Camarilla”

She pauses gathering her thoughts. She’s too afraid to look up, to see what’s the expression in Tally’s face this time. But she’s thankful for the hand in her shoulder to keep her grounded, or the mug of tea in her hands to distract her. 

“Petra said they had us for five days. When she came to rescue us, I was the only one left. The war officially ended like a week later and she took me with her to The Hague. I guess she felt guilty"

“I’m sure your team, your family, they would be proud you’re still fighting Scylla” there's a softness to Tally’s voice that gets to her. 

She knows in a way the would, but she can’t help but think different “I think they’d want me to not have to fight anymore”

Tally nods, her eyes briefly land on Raelle in the bed, before going back to her “We all want that, but it's not always a choice”

“I know” 

They stay silent after that. Tally seems happy to keep her company.

And Scylla feels a little bit better knowing she’s not alone even when Raelle is not...available. 

Hours later, although it only felt like minutes, she wakes up to the sun high in the sky. 

Sleeping in a chair was a terrible idea. She stands up slowly and stretches her arms and legs. Tally is still asleep in the chair next to her, she looks uncomfortable and Scylla pokes her shoulder to wake her up. 

Tally stirs and lets out a groan.

“Fuck” the curse surprises Scylla, and Tally opens her eyes and smiles “I forgot how bad of an idea sleeping in a char was”

Scylla nods and turns to see Raelle still sleeping. 

“Still asleep” Tally sounds tired and defeated.

She feels all those things somewhere deep inside. Raelle should be here with them, making stupid jokes with Tally as they prepare for the meeting. She should be running down the stairs to help Anacostia with breakfast. 

If Harding wasn’t dead she’d kill her. 

Once again is Tally who stops her from spiraling. She touches her shoulder to get her attention “I’m going to go start breakfast. Come down when you’re ready”

As Tally leaves, Scylla walks to the bed and sits down next to Raelle. 

There’s so much she wants to say. Its stupid,everyone keeps saying she’s going to wake up “when she’s ready” 

Scylla is ready now. 

Why can’t now be the moment she's ready? 

Everything hangs on a thread. This is the moment she’s been waiting for. Real freedom for her and all witches, and Raelle will not be standing next to her. 

Out of all the times to take a nap. 

She will laugh about this someday, but today she hates it. 

“I needed you with me today, Rae” she whispers as she lies on her side to watch her better.

And wishes Raelle would wake up, and smile that silly smile that she loves.

She can hear the “mornin’ beautiful” in her mind, from so many mornings before. 

She closes her eyes and can feel strong arms around her waist, soft lips on hers. She can hear that sweet Cession drawl. 

But is not real. 

And when she opens her eyes again she falls back into the crushing reality that even though Raelle is here in bed with her, she really isn’t. 

“You got to wake up, Rae” 

She caresses her cheek and moves the hair away from her eyes. 

Raelle doesn’t wake up despite her plea. 

All she Scylla can see is the rise and fall of her chest, the only way in which she’s here. She lies back down and gets closer, she buries her head in Raelle’s shoulder and maybe, maybe she cries a little bit. 

“Why won’t you wake up, you stubborn fool?” 

She gets no answer. No half-assed smartiness. Nothing. 

There’s a long day ahead, so against her wishes she pulls away. She stops before getting out of bed and turns back to Raelle. 

“I...Iove you” she kisses her cheek and finally gets out of bed. 

  
  


Breakfast is quiet. 

Tally tries to start a conversation, but there is too much going for small talk.

As soon as they’re done cleaning the dishes, Anacostia calls everyone to the living room for a last meeting. 

Louise gets just in time to join them and foolishly asks where Raelle is. 

“We removed the linker” Willa replies quietly, she looks like she didn’t sleep all night, and maybe didn’t “It had some, uh, unprecedented repercussions”

“What do you mean? Is she okay?” Louise looks worried.

Scylla kind of agrees that Willa choose the most complex way of saying “I accidentally put my daughter in a coma” 

“She’s asleep now” Izadora clearifies “We don’t know when she’ll wake up”

Louise looks like she wants to say more, maybe ask more questions. Thankfully Anacostia clears her throat to start the meeting “We are all here, and today is a big day. If Collar could she’d tell us to get our shit together and get to work” she pauses for a minute, seeming to get herself together, but Scylla doesn’t miss the sadness in her eyes. 

Maybe she’s been too caught up in her own emotions that she didn’t realize maybe people needed Raelle too. 

When Anacostia is done going over everything, she sends them away to get ready. Scylla ignores the order and waits for everyone to go before approaching the general. 

“You should be gettin ready, Scylla” 

She knows. But her uniform is with Raelle’s in the room. 

“I know, general, but…” Anacostia looks up with interest “I wanted to know how you were doing?”

Anacostia is surprised by her question and she stops her pacing to sit down on the couch “I’m fine, of course, I just… I was up all night making changes to the plan ‘cause Collar is- Raelle, she…” she sighs defeated “She’d want us to make this work, that part was true”

Scylla nods “Yeah, I know. I want her to wake up, though”

Anacostia smiles, barely visible, but still there “I know it's only been a couple of hours, but I miss her barging into rooms and stealing cookies from the kitchen”

Scylla wants to know more about the stealing cookies from the kitchen part, but they don’t have time. They never have time. 

“When we’re done with Buttonwood and all this crap I’ll tell you about it” Anacostia chuckles “Now go get dress, sargeant, I want to see my reflection in your shoes”

“Yes, ma’am”

She walks slowly up the stairs and walks into the room. She quickly grabs her uniform and walks back out, she changes in the bathroom and bumps into Tally as she leaves. 

“There you are” Tally looks at her uniform with a frown before fixing her crooked medals “Now it's perfect”

“Uh, thanks” they stop in front of the bedroom’s door “Are you going to be okay here with Raelle?”

That’s the new plan. Tally’s staying back in the house to look after Raelle, and Willa will use the face changing seed to pass as her daughter in the Council meeting. 

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I haven’t said anything to Anacostia and Izadora yet, but I think we should call Alder” Tally looks at her trying to read her expression and what she sees must not be what she wanted ‘cause she starts talking again, faster this time “I’m just worried, about Rae, of course. And its Alder, you know? She’s been alive for a like three-hundred years. She has to know something we don’t and maybe-”

“Tally, breath” she orders, and when the younger witch does as told she speaks again “Do you trust Alder?”

“Yes”

Scylla nods slowly. She wonders briefly how exactly they ended in a position where Sarah Alder might be their saving grace. “Okay. Run it by Anacostia, but I need you to promise that you’ll stay with Raelle no matter what. I trust you, not Alder”

“Yeah, of course. I promise” 

  
  
  
  


The minute her eyes land on Buttonwood she sees red. 

And she’s taking a step towards a very stupid decision when a hand on her shoulder stops it. 

She hasn’t looked at Willa yet. 

They drove in separate cars, she went with Izadora and Willa with Anacostia. 

But she knows that hand, it's Raelle’s hand. Willa used a more powerful seed to fully take on her daughter's appearance and it's haunting how good of a job she’s made. Scylla closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and shoves the hand away. 

Its not Raelle. 

She focuses on Buttonwood instead. The Secretary walks in followed by Gerit and Lieutenant Harding.

Raelle would hate it here. She’d be pulling at the neck of her uniform, playing nerviously with her hands. Scylla would take her hand in hers and say something snarky to make her smile. 

But this isn’t Raelle. 

And it's Buttonwood’s fault. 

Right after Buttonwood, Petra and Abigail walk in, muttering between each other. They seem tense, ready to snap. But Abigail’s eyes soften when she sees Raelle. 

Not-Raelle. 

She tells something to her mother and walks towards them. Harding and Gerit too, but Louise calls them over, she throws Scylla a smirk before turning to her own conversation. 

It takes Abigail a second to tell something’s off. Scylla can see the gears turning.

“What’s going on?” she looks at Scylla for answers. 

“I’ll explain later. Just go with it for now” hopefully Abigail listens to her. 

Abigail nods and moves to stand next to her and Willa “Meeting’s about to start”

Scylla stands taller without even realizing she is doing it. Today more than ever she hates all the ways the army brainwashed her into behaving a certain way.

She lets her shoulders fall and Abigail glares at her.

Izadora breaks the silence before she loses her cool and answers Abigail's glare with one of her own.

"Susan, changing your entourage in the last meeting. How bold of you"

Buttonwood chuckles "Julia couldn't make it, but her lovely daughter took her place. And Gerit, of course. There's nothing wrong with change, right?"

"Yeah, no, agreed" Izadora's tone of fake friendliness goes over the Secretary's head "It's why Ana and I changed ours too"

Buttonwood finally takes in the group of young witches standing guard. Her eyes follow every face matching it to the general sitting at the table.

Swythe and Swythe.

Bellweather and Bellweather 

Wick's a loner, so she doesn't have one.

There's only she and Willa left and Buttonwood takes a second too long to hide her shock.

Scylla can see the moment she catches on. When she realizes what it means.

Its glorious.

She smirks at the Secretary.

Checkmate bitch.

And maybe she jumped the gun a bit, but if Raelle was here she would laugh at that.

“I...What…?” Buttonwood clears her throat and puts on a fake smile “So that’s where they went”

Scylla has to contain herself from saying something stupid, but she hates the woman. Abigail subtly kicks her foot, halting whatever ideas her brain was coming up with. She looks up to see the conversation has continued without her. 

Buttonwood is giving her speech. And Scylla doesn’t have the strength of mind to listen to this bullshit again. 

The Secretary is talking about her work in the army and how much she’s done for the betterment of the troops. Scylla wants to ask her about all the troops she and her friends at Section 5 send to their deaths. Was that for their betterment too? She’d probably say yes. Fucking psycopath that she is.

And then she says it. Like clockwork. Just like they knew she would. 

“The Spree needs to be dealt with, not like before! We can’t bring them to our fold like we did before. Like we did with her!”

Her finger lands on Scylla with a charicature evil smirk. 

Oh she thinks she won. Scylla looks up at the Secretary, eyes never wavering. She’s not going to look away first. 

“Look at her, defiant little thing that she is!” Buttonwood’s face is red with anger. 

Scylla wonders briefly if she doesn’t worry about people seeing how crazy she really is. 

“If it troubles you so much, Secretary Buttonwood, I can always wait outside for the meeting to be over” she says every word dripping sarcasm, so much that Buttonwood can’t miss it. And before waiting for an answer she walks away. 

“Scylla, wait!” Willa follows after her. 

Everything is falling into place. 

“And the half blood follows like a lap dog”

Is the last thing she hears as the doors close behind them. 

Outside the meeting hall soldiers go about their day, but no one looks their way. This is Fort Salem after all, witches in uniform abound. 

They follow Anacostia’s instructions and quickly end up in a mission command room. Willa sits down first and Scylla follows a minute later. This is the part she hates the most. With Raelle it would have been easy, even fun to sit down and wait. But instead she has Willa Collar sitting across from her wearing the face of the woman she loves and she can’t bring herself to look at her.

“Scylla” 

“Yes?” and still she won’t look her in the eye. 

Willa sighs, clearly tired of getting the cold shoulder from her “Listen I-”

Scylla shakes her head “No! Not like this, not now!”

“Will you just listen-”

She's so angry that she doesn’t realize she’s looking up until she’s staring into deep blue eyes that take her breath away.

Is not her. 

Is not her. 

Is not her. 

“Don’t. Whatever you want to say, just don’t. I want to hate you, I’m so mad at you. And I can’t right now because you’re wearing her face and I love her face, but I hate you. So don’t”

It stops Willa right on the spot and she looks away. 

“You’re right”

Yes she is. And she knows it. 

Willa checks the time on the clock in the wall “They should be here any minute now”

Scylla nods and stands up. There’s no purpose in sitting any longer. The lighter in her pocket feels heavy, and she takes it out just as the door slips open. 

“Where is the-” General Swythe takes in the room and turns to her niece, the confusion clear in her face “Louise what is going on?”

Louise smirks that stupid smirk of hers that Scylla usually hates “Oh, I’m with them now”

General Swythe opens her mouth to start talking several times but no words come out.

“Let’s put her to sleep for now” Willa says and Louise nods, putting her hand on her aunt’s forehead.

The general falls back into her niece a second later. 

“I could use a hand” 

Willa goes to help her get the general to one of the chairs and Scylla moves aside to do her part. 

Even after so many years, she’s never ready for the flames to consume her face. But she knows how to do it, she recites the steps in her head and takes a deep breath as the flames slowly disappear revealing General Swythe’s face.

“How do I look?”

Louise smiles nodding with her head “Wow”

“You should go back” Willa is done a good job of tying the general to one of the chairs, and she seems proud of herself for that, or at least that’s Raelle’s prideful face.

Scylla quickly looks away “She’s right. Let’s go”

Louise goes to open the door for her “aunt” and Willa stops her with a hand on her arm. 

It's a weird thing. Willa wearing Raelle’s face gives her a small smile “Be careful, Scylla”

And Scylla wearing General Swythe’s face can’t help but smile at that beautiful face, even if it isn’t the person she wishes it was “Yeah, got to... go back to her”

Willa nods and Scylla walks out, getting into character with every step back into the meeting hall. 

Louise catches her up with everything that’s happened in the meeting, and by the time she walks in and takes her place at the table she feels ready. 

Sitting among the general is weirdly empowering. And she nods off to Buttonwood talking for another half hour. 

“With that being said” Buttonwood seems to be reaching the end of her speech like Scylla is reaching the end of her patience “It has been an honor to sit among you, to be a general in this army I’m proud of and I hope as we continue to work together that we will make a better world for all witches”

It’s bullshit. But it was a good speech. 

Buttonwood holds for a beat, like she always does when she’s done speaking. Why is she always waiting for people to clap for her will never not be a question in Scylla’s mind. But no one does, obviously, and the Secretary stands there for an awkward moment before everyone stands up to shake her hand and wish her luck.

Like the liars that they all are. 

“Let’s take a break of thirty minutes and then we’ll vote for a new General of the Army” Anacostia says, she’s playing singing voice today ‘cause they’re in Fort Salem and it's one thing Buttonwood didn’t take into consideration when making her plans. 

Scylla’s never played sports, but she thinks this is what they mean when they speak about having home court advantage. 

As the generals begin walking out of the room Buttonwood calls her, or Swythe over. 

“Let’s talk for a minute”

It sounds oddly enough like a threat. Scylla wonders if Buttonwood always speaks like this to Swythe, and if Swythe is stupid enough to not see this as what it is. 

“Of course, Susan” she smiles and joins the Secretary.

Buttonwood sends Gerit and Lieutenant Harding away, and she does the same with Louise who seems more reluctant than the other to leave. 

“Big day, huh?” she says after a long minute of silence. 

“Yeah, big day” Buttonwood agrees.

Scylla might be seeing things, but the Secretary seems nervous. 

“There’s been a change of plans” Buttonwood declares suddenly, she has her hands in her back, standing tall and strong. 

Ok, now they’re going somewhere. She puts on her most shocked face “What change of plans?”

“I’m betraying you”

Wow. It sucks to be Swythe today. Buttonwood smiles, despite her words and takes her hand. Scylla has to force herself not to pull away. 

“I want you to know I am sorry, but-”

“Why are you doing this?” she pulls her hand away in fake anger. She imagines Raelle’s proud smile at the performance she’s pulling. 

Buttonwood sighs, she seems annoyed that Swythe is not following whatever plan she had in mind for this conversation. 

“Why not? You’re a burden, honestly. Everything’s about your hate for the Spree. It's gotten a little bit old and I no longer need you” the change of tune is sudden and unexpected. 

If Scylla didn’t know better she would have been shocked. 

Buttonwood takes her silence for Swythe being speechless and maybe she’s not too far off “I had a better plan, but Harding’s gone off somewhere, probably still haunting those two with Quartermaine and L’Amara. So the knife will have to do”

What knife?

Buttonwood’s hands reappear, her right hands brandishing a small yet very sharp looking knife. 

Oh, that knife. 

Scylla charges at her and the general falls to the floor. Her grip on the weapon remains unshaken but she seems out of air “What the fuck Swythe?”

Scylla stands up. To hell with the plan she's going to kick her ass “Oh no, not Swythe” she brings the lighter to her face and the general watches in horror as Swythe’s face burns to reveal Scylla underneath, she points to a corner of the ceiling by the door where a small camera is recording the scene “But don’t worry she saw everything. Its a little bit of an update from General Quartermaine"

“I’m going to kill you!” Buttonwood struggles to stand up, still catching her breath.

“You mean you’ll try” Scylla mocks her.

She can see the Secretary grow agitated. Maybe Buttonwood has the knife, but Scylla is younger and very much angry. 

"Ready yet, Susan?" she keeps pushing as the general finally stands up "Cool, let me tell you a story"

Buttonwood launches herself at her and Scylla moves just out of the way. The momentum throws the general off and the knife falls off her hands.

"When I was a kid, before the army killed my dodger parents, we used to have horror movie marathons. The ones with zombies were my favourites"

Buttonwood goes for the knife weary of Scylla' movements. She's finally acknowledging her as a threat.

"My dad and I always fought over what was the most efficient way to kill a zombie. I was all for blood, give me a machete or a baseball bat with spikes, the whole thing" 

The older witch doesn't try to attack her, instead she supports herself on the table to catch her breath. She seems to gather that Scylla is going to tell her this story whether she likes it or not.

"My dad was more of a strategist" 

Buttonwood takes a step towards her "Is that all?"

"You can come try to kill me if you want now, yeah"

Scylla remembers two days ago in a hotel in some small town fighting Harding with Raelle. She would be proud if she could see her now.

As Buttonwood charges towards her, Scylla takes her scourge and catches the Secretary's right leg. The second Buttonwood realizes she's lost is a memory she will treasure forever.

She pulls hard at the scourge and the mighty Susan Buttonwood falls to the floor with a resounding thud.

"Fun fact: you can't perform work if you're catching your breath. Did you know that, Susan?" she emphasizes her point by kicking her leg.

"Thread carefully, sargeant" Buttonwood grits, and when Scylla kicks her again she grunts, her face red and her breathing coming out ragged.

"Or in such pain you can't focus" she adds as an afterthought. Behind her the doors swing open "And here comes the rescue. For me, not for you"

  
  
  


General Wick takes it all surprisingly well. 

General Swythe is still tied to her chair and only needed to be threatened once to remain quiet. 

Anacostia puts Buttonwood to sleep and ties her to a chair. She doesn’t seem very fond of waking her up. 

Willa is back to her face and Scylla is thankful. 

The room feels particularly crowded. Everyone watched Buttonwood try to kill who she thought was Swythe. And now they are all sitting around the table in different states of disbelief. 

She doesn't care for them. Can't bring herself to. 

Abigail sits down next to her as the four generala step aside to talk things through.

"That was pretty badass"

Scylla nods slowly in agreement "I've been wanting to kick her ass for a while now"

"Yeah, me too. Is now when you tell me why Raelle is not here?"

She looks away. She doesn't want to think about it. Wants to bask in the joy of having kick Buttonwood's ass and now the fucker is tied to a chair. Raelle would be beaming.

Abigail takes her arm and shakes her "Don't be an ass, cousin"

Cousin, right. They're family. She smiles just a little bit.

"There you go. Now tell me"

She does tell her and a few minutes later is her who has to convince Abigail not to kick the sleeping witch's ass.

Anacostia and the other generals finally come back to the table.

Petra is the first one to speak "We all saw Buttonwood trying to kill who she thaught was Swythe, yes?"

She glares at everyone in the room, not really leaving room for disagrements. Under her intense look everyone nods.

"She's my mom, but yeah, that was, uh, pretty fucked up" Gerit says quietly. His face is pale and he looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

"Yes, us Mr. Buttonwood so nic-"

Gerit speaks over her without even looking up "Its Craven actually, I took Tally's name when we got married"

"You marry Craven?" Louise asks shocked and then she grins "Nice job, dude"

Petra clears her throat annoyed "If you are all done, the council has reached an agreement as to how we must move forward"

Scylla is on the edge of her seat.

"Major Bellweather and her team were able to get enough information on Swythe's unlawful behaviour during the war to have her face trial. She will most likely spend the rest of her life in prison" Petra speaks calmy.

The tone unsettles Scylla. Petra seems to be preparing them for something.

"As for Secretary Buttonwood, we will let her go"

Even Gerit can't believe it. A wave of complaints and some murmured curses follow the general's words.

"Enough!" Petra shuts them all up. 

Scylla won't be so easily turned down “If we let her go now, she’ll come back with an army”

Izadora beats Petra to the answer “If she vanishes, this isn’t like others" she looks briefly Lieutenant Harding's way then back to Scylla as if to draw a point "We can’t just bury it away. She’s a member of the President's Cabinet, this won’t just go away”

Anacostia nods, agreeing to everything Izadora says “They’ll look for her and the last place she was seen was Fort Salem. It will come back to us, not just the army, all witches” 

“And we will have given humans the reason they needed to wipe us out” Izadora concludes.

Scylla sighs. She knows that they are right. They played their move, now it's her turn “So we let her go”

“We let her go and get planning" Anacostia seems to understand what she's thinking "We are not giving up. After how you humiliated her Scylla, she will come back”

Everyone nods. 

Izadora lets her eyes fall on Lieutenant Harding “No one has to do anything here. Its okay if you want to stay clear of all this, Harding”

The younger witch stands up “I would like to look for my mother, general”

“Very well. You might go, just don’t speak a word of what happened here” 

“Yes, ma’am” she stands up and walks away. 

Izadora sits down in a chair and takes a deep breath “That was tough”

“I too will step aside on all this matter” General Wick announces “I think at least one member of the Council should remain objective here. And I will make sure Harding stays in line”

When Wick leaves the room grows silent. 

The reality of what’s happened comes crashing down. 

They have to leave this room and go back to the real world. 

A world where Raelle is probably still “sleeping”

“We should go back to the house” she stands up “I want to see how Raelle is”

“And I want to hear more about this linker thing” Petra too stands and everyone follows, she turns to the other two generals “We should finish dealing with Buttonwood and Swythe. But maybe they can go to the house”

Izadora throws the car keys across the table for Scylla to catch “If you scratch my car I will disown you”

They reach the house so quickly she barely has time to think. But as she parks the car in the driveway and Abigail, Willa and Gerit go into the house she stays behind. 

Inside Raelle is probably still asleep. 

They still don’t know when she’ll wake up or how to wake her up. 

Suddenly kicking Buttonwood’s ass has lost its importance. 

It felt good in the moment, when she let her anger shut down everything else she was feeling. But now Buttonwood will come for them, for her. 

She will protect this family she’s found. 

But she needs Raelle to wake up.

Scylla lets out a shaky breath as she comes out of the car. 

She’s not going to cry, but she wants to. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on tumblr @realbluedragon


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again everyone!   
> I'm about to start classes again so I'll have a lot of reading to do, great for coming up with new stories but it will screw with my writing shedules. I'll still try to update on saturdays but this my apology in advance in case i don't. Luckily we're in the last half of the story and I pretty much know where this is going.  
> That's all guys, have a good weekend and enjoy!

Scylla closes the front door just as Tally comes to find her. 

“Hey... there were no changes” Tally says, and despite her words she doesn’t sound defeated. Scylla knew her optimism would save them one day “I spoke with Alder, though. She’s coming to see Raelle”

“I want to see her” Abigail breaks into the conversation. 

She has changed out of her uniform and now stands in front of them in sweatpants and a US ARMY shirt. 

Why does it feel a world away when she last saw Abigail look like this? 

“I’ll take you” Scylla says, just as Gerit walks into the room, sees the scene and slowly walks out “What are you going to do about Gerit?”

“Who took your name” Abigail comments, bringing some humor into the conversation “Are you going to fix things with Gerit Craven, Tal?”

Tally smiles and tries to hide her blush looking away “Scylla, please take her away”

Abigail laughs, and runs up the stairs. She waits for Scylla by the door. 

“You could’ve walked in”

“It felt wrong” Abigail explains, she shifts her weight from side to side. She’s nervous. “How bad is it?”

“Is not bad” Scylla tries to find a way to explain herself “It just...feels wrong. She should be here, you know? Like just a minute ago, she should’ve been with you poking fun at Tally about Gerit, and instead she’s just...sleeping”

She opens the door and lets Abigail walk in first. She observes from there as Abigail gets closer to the bed. She stops, close but not too close, and takes one of her hands. 

Raelle is lying on her back, her face is relaxed and her breathing even. If it wasn’t cause she won’t wake up, one would think she’s simply taking a nap. 

“This is all wrong” Abigail says in a whisper “She slips on her side”

The small detail makes Scylla smile.

“She’s always complaining about how her arms get on the way when she sleeps. She was the worst in basic, and War College too. Did I tell you we were roommates in War College?”

Scylla shakes her head no. 

“I hate her so much” Abigail smiles sadly at her sleeping sister “This is so wrong, Scylla. Look at my shitbird, just like in the W estern Campaign. We need to wake her up” 

“I know” and there’s a depth to her words ‘cause there so much more to it than just that “Tally called Alder. We spoke to her yesterday, she said she might consider working with us or something. Tally thinks she might know what to do”

“We should talk with General Wick too. She is the Chief fixer” Abigail offers and she’s right.

Maybe it's worth a shot asking if she’s heard anything about the linkers. 

“Yeah, I’ll call Anacostia and ask” she begins walking out of the room “You will stay with her?”

Abigail nods and goes to sit on the chair Scylla slept in last night “I think I will, for a while”

“I’ll be back later” she takes some clothes from her bag by the closet and leaves the room. 

* * *

  
  


After taking a shower she finds herself in the backyard. Anacostia's bench looks like the perfect place to get a minute to herself and allow her mind a brief respite from everything that’s happening. 

What a fucking mess.

To think she had her mind made to be done with the army just a short time ago. She was ready to leave everything behind and start over.

And instead she has come to find herself in the eye of the storm again. 

She has Raelle, a family and a war to fight. 

It's starting to feel like she can’t have one without the other. 

Somehow she thinks Raelle could help her make sense of this mess. 

Willa and Louise pass by her bench engrossed in their conversation and she’s happy to see them walk away. Willa stops, however, and catches sight of her. 

Before she can disappear into thin air, Willa has gotten rid of Louise and stands next to her. 

“You’re covering the sun” she says without looking up.

Instead of walking away, as one does when it's not welcome, Willa sits down next to her. 

“I think we have postponed this conversation long enough”

“No one says we have to talk about anything, Willa. Walk away, you’re good at that”

Willa sighs, but makes no move to leave. 

“Raelle says we have to talk, though. She says you know” Willa looks up just in time to catch her sudden intake of breath “I-”

“You send us to our deaths!” the look of hurt on Willa’s face doesn’t make her stop, it only makes her angrier “I joined you, I believed you! Don’t you remember?”

“I do. I remember” 

“How could you?” she whispers the question against her better judgement. She hopes the wind blew it away before Willa could hear it. 

The look on Willa’s face tells her otherwise. 

“How-” Willa looks down at her hands, she’s playing with them in her lap. Just like Raelle. When she speaks her voice trembles “How could I not, though?”

_ How could I let Raelle die? _ Is the question Willa means. Scylla knows it. She knows that one is much harder to answer. 

“That’s not fair” 

Willa shakes her head “When have our lives, the choices we were given been fair, Scylla? I was given an impossible choice. My fight or my child. I don’t know who I am if I’m not her mother, I...I was so scared for her when she was born, I’ve been scared ever since. I couldn’t let her die”

It's not that Willa chose Raelle, she understands that part. She knows in her heart she’d do the same. She has done it already. The problem is Willa didn’t choose her. Scylla was loyal, she fought.

She tried. 

To be a good spy, a good Spree agent. And when it came to it, it didn’t matter. 

It never matters. 

“I hate this” the words escape her mouth and Willa takes them in before she can prevent it or take it back. 

“Raelle would choose you, you know? All these people in the house, they would choose you against an army”

“I don’t want them to have to choose!” 

“I know” Willa says, and she’s earnest in her words “But they would. That’s what a family does”

She knows. And it's partly Willa’s fault that she knows. 

Scylla knows because her team, her family, they choose her. They all died so she could live.

Everytime the Camarilla men came for her they offered themselves up for whatever happened behind the heavy iron walls. 

She remembers it so clear as it had just happened. 

When Petra came in and there was only her in that bloody cage like if she was some sort of wild animal. And the moment she was out she had run up that bloody door, she had pushed and punched until her hands were hurt and covered in blood. 

When the door was open she saw their bodies. Thrown around in a hurry. As if they were nothing. Not people, with lives and dreams. 

They had lives and dreams. 

She remembers that too. The long nights traveling from one destination to another keeping each other awake by telling stories and stupid jokes. 

Nat told the best jokes. Growing up a dodger like her he had learned all his jokes overhearing the adults talking. He had got them laughing even after everything they saw. Time after time, after the blood was cleaned away and the information send in, they would inevitably end up finding themselves gathering around him to hear his stupid jokes and be relieved they could still laugh, that these tears were of joy and their hearts were just a bit lighter. 

Ruby was quiet, she had taken time to open up. She had been raised in a Spree cell, her parents were Spree and had died when she was young. To her joining the Spree hadn’t been a choice, it was simply the natural progression expected of her. Ruby loved reading anything she could get her hands on. One night she would keep them awake with her ever growing list of fun facts of the ancient world, and the next they’d barely hold their eyes open as she went on and on about the philosophy of the ancient world. She’d give anything to listen to her now. 

And Marion, she was like their surrogate mother. She was old enough to be and as such she would entertain them with children's stories and had them try to guess her twists on the classics. Scylla might have been made the team’s leader by Petra, but it was Marion who imposed order among them, like a true mother. She was soft, despite the life she had lived. The army had killed her husband and kid, and she had spent many years in a military prison before being released to join Petra’s spy army. Marion had the most beautiful laughter, it always reminded Scylla of her own mother. 

They were alive once upon a time. 

She knows this. 

They had decided she needed to survive. They had given up their dreams, their chances at freedom so she could have hers. 

She doesn’t know why yet. 

Maybe she’ll never know. 

What makes everything worse was that even though it was Willa’s fault and she hates her for it, it was for Raelle. 

It’s a paradox she can’t get past. 

“I heard Tally has spoken to Sarah Alder,” Willa says after a long while. And by the tone of her voice, thick with emotion, maybe Scylla isn’t the only one who got a little bit lost in the past for a couple of minutes. They’re both searching for a distraction now “Do you think she can help?”

“The damage is already done anyways” she takes a deep breath, to refrain herself from calling Willa a shit fixer “Tally had compelling arguments”

“Like what?”

“That Alder has to have seen something like this before, or at least have an idea of what we might need to do. After all she’s been alive for a bazillion years” 

Willa’s laughter is sudden and takes her by surprise. The older witch struggles to calm down for a minute, she too can tell is maybe not the time to laugh. 

“She only been alive for three hundred years, Scylla”

Scylla shrugs, she really, really does not care how old Sarah Alder is. 

The silence that falls upon them then is light and almost pleasant. She has not felt this way with Willa in a long time. 

Is not forgiveness what has changed this, ‘cause she hasn’t forgiven her. It's the peace and quiet of a true out in the open. 

It's a good change. 

* * *

  
  


They go inside a while later, the sun is setting and it's suddenly colder. 

Scylla misses Raelle’s arms around her too keep the cold at bay.

In the living room she finds Anacostia and Petra just walking in. 

She needs to have a word with Petra soon. 

But right now, Petra is too busy looking around the room with interest "This is a nice place you have here, Anacostia"

Anacostia nods frowning, her eyes fall on her and Willa "Yeah, although it's usually less crowded” 

There’s no bite to her words, and Scylla shakes her head and smiles as she watches Izadora come out of nowhere and bring Anacostia closer to softly kiss her cheek 

"You always wanted a big family, Ana. Stop being so dramatic" then she turns to Scylla with a knowing smile “Could you get everyone to come? We have to talk”

Scylla’s not sure how she feels about playing the messenger, but she does go around the house getting people to meet with the rest downstairs. Louise comments on that matter and Scylla is going to smack her again when she catches her unprepared. 

Abigail is the only one left and Scylla sighs before opening the door. Abigail immediately stands up, and when she realizes what she’s done she laughs. 

“Stupid army” she mumbles. 

Scylla smiles, she can agree with that. 

“Anacostia, Izadora and your mom are here” she says, quickly changing the subject to the matter at hand “They want everyone to meet downstairs to talk”

Abigail nods and follows her outside “Are there any news on Alder or Wick? I keep trying to figure out how Rae woke up the last time, but she just did you know? No tricks, just three days or so and she woke up alone. How long has it been now?”

“Almost two days”

“So maybe we’re freaking out over nothing, right? She could just wake up tomorrow and be completely fi-”

“Was she just fine after the three days last time?”

Abigail stops walking “No. It still took her like three weeks to recover”

They don’t have three weeks. 

She doesn’t tell Abigail that. Abigail knows it already. 

They are both quiet when they join the others in the living room. 

And Anacostia is right, the house is crowded. 

“Swythe’s in basement” is Izadora’s opening statement. It might just be worth it for the look in Anacostia’s face. Izadora doesn’t see it and so she carries on “We don’t know who they have in Fort Salem, so this was the safest choice. It will only be until we’re done with Buttonwood. After that we’re shipping her off to prison in the Caribbean. She’s feeling chatty though, in the light of her former ally’s betrayal, so I’ll go talk to her after dinner, see what else we can learn” 

“That’s great, general” Scylla smiles at Izadora’s eye roll “But can we jump to the bit where Petra betrayed us and we ended up in a dungeon she keeps in her basement?”

Next to her Abigail nods “Yeah, mom. We’re safe now, so explain yourself”

Petra has the audacity to look offended when no one jumps to her defense. And after the longest time she speaks, clearly still not over this betrayal. 

“Look it was all just a political play. I needed to convince Buttonwood I was on her side so she would let me get close enough to get the information I needed” it's pretty obvious it's been too long since Petra has had to give explanations for her actions to a room full of people who are clearly against her.

“And where is your proof? What did you learn that will help us?” Scylla has many questions for Petra, but for now she’s sticking to this one subject they’re currently talking about. 

The anger in her voice might be the biggest clue to the depth of her emotions in the matter. She thinks Petra takes note of that, cause she stands up fixing her uniform jacket as she does and when she looks up her eyes find Scylla and only her.

“Since you don’t believe me I’ll come back tomorrow with the proof” she turns to the two other generals “If that’s okay with you?”

The two generals share a look before nodding and Izadora walks Petra to the door. 

“Okay let’s all calm down” Anacostia says as the other two general walk away, but it's clear she’s only speaking to her, again “We’re all going to agree that Petra has explained herself and everyone is free of not believing a word she says. But we’re in this together, so let’s at least try to be civil” as she stands up she glares at Petra’s retreating form. Yeah Anacostia doesn’t buy it either “Now I’m going to order pizza cause it's too late to cook dinner. Tally what are you going to want?”

“Oh, I’m feeling a classic, pepperoni?” 

“Can we have pineapple pizza?” Abigail follows Anacostia as the general goes to get the phone. 

“Absolutely no”

Scylla laughs at the two witches before returning her attention back to the room. Gone is the crown of just a second ago. Gerit, Louise and Willa are gone, Izadora is just sitting back in her old place looking as confused as she is. 

“Oh, Gerit’s gone to ask Anacoastia where he can sleep tonight” Tally explains quickly “And Willa’s gone to check on Raelle”

“And Louise left with Petra, she’s staying at Fort Salem and starting to go over General Swythe’s office early tomorrow. Someone should go help her with that” Izadora lets out a laugh “Ana is going to be delighted the crowd is getting smaller. Where is she?”

“Ordering pizza for dinner with Abigail” Scylla supplies and izadora rolls her eyes.

“Can you believe my own wife didn’t ask what I wanted? Unbelievable, she goes to feed her children instead” 

Scylla doesn’t care all that much about dinner. She has many things to keep herself occupied, but the reminder of the relationship between the two generals is always a welcome distraction. She likes to watch them interact and try to figure out when and how it was the moment they looked at eachother and decided it was love. 

She’s sure that if she asked they’d tell her, but she needs a laugh sometimes and they are a fun pair to watch. 

“I wanted chinese food” Izadora continues to grumble, and Scylla laughs cause she knows Anacostia probably hates that and that’s probably why Izadora is doing it. 

The front door suddenly opens, cutting off her train of thought and Alder walks in as if she owns the house and everyone present.

Izadora stands up “Oh, hey general. You didn’t knock” the tone of her voice is sarcastic, she isn’t happy at all. 

"It is good to see you as well Izadora" Alder has either not noticed Izadora’s sarcasm or she chooses to ignore it "Tally told me my assistance was perhaps needed, for a matter pertaining to Captain Collar?"

Anacostia nods walking into the room "Yes, general. I'm sure Willa and Tally will be able to explain what happened and Scylla can show you to Raelle"

"Very well then. Shall we?" she keeps moving around as if this was all completely normal. 

Izadora looks agitated. 

And as she walks up the stairs, Scylla sees Anacostia trying to calm down her wife. She doesn’t seem to be succeeding.

She follows Alder and Tally to Raelle’s room and Willa opens before she can knock. 

The look between the former General of the Army and the former Spree leader is heavy with a meaning that escapes Scylla.

But it goes on for far too long. She looks at Tally who shrugs. Great, another mystery. 

She clears her throat, catching their attention. 

“Right” Alder looks away first “Let’s go inside and you can explain to me what happened so I can try to help you” 

Willa and Tally explain what happened and Alder listens with interest. After they’re done she speaks. 

"Buttonwood approached me about this linker thing when it was only an idea. I refused it of course, our bodies should not to be desecrated with this...tech nonsense"

"Well she did it anyway. Right under your nose" Scylla grits her words "And then Willa turned out to be a shit fixer"

"Hey now-"

Alder cuts her off "Willa Collar is one of the best fixers I know, Ramshorn. You on the other hand are one in a sea of Necros some of which are far better than you are. Learn your place"

"She put her kid in a coma, though" she bites back. 

Alder smiles, not a creepy smile, but rather an actual smile as if she finds humor in Scylla words "First times often are flawed, no?"

“I don’t think you want me to answer that one, Sarah. It's almost too easy” she crosses her arms “And can we get to Raelle already?”

Alder rolls her eyes at her and turns to Tally “Tell me, do you remember when she got the linker on her, in the Western Campaign? She was in some kind of coma then too, is it not right?”

Tally nods slowly “Yes, yeah she was for the first few days, then she slipped in an out of consciousness for about a week”

“And do you remember when she woke up exactly?” Alder keeps pushing for an answer she already knows and Scylla is on her last bits of patience. She can’t see the biddies, maybe this is her chance to beat up the bitch. 

Tally’s face makes that expression somewhere between surprise and eureka “Right after your first visit to the infirmary. She woke up that afternoon and then you gave her the medal”

Alder nods, happy for some reason that Tally has reached the expected conclusion “I’ll see Captain Collar now" she moves confidently until she’s standing next to her by the bed and looks at them "I don't suppose you will leave me alone with her, but perhaps just Sargeant Ramshorn?"

Tally gives her a look as if checking if she's cool with that before nodding and walking away, sort of draggin Willa with her.

Scylla reluctantly stands where she is, intently watching every move Alder makes. The former general takes in the room, she points at the Necro flag on the wall "Interesting decor choice for a fixer, no?"

"I thought you came to help Raelle, not criticize her taste in decorations"

"I can multitask, Ramshorn" Alder brings the chair closer and sits down next to the sleeping witch "Did you already try linking with her?"

"No"

Alder smiles as if she had expected that answer “Why not?”

Why not? Cause it's rude? To look inside people's minds? When they are unconscious? "Because we-"

“You’re her lover”

"I would not call it that" Scylla quickly shuts it off. That's a conversation for her and Raelle, when she wakes up. Alder need to mind her own fucking bussiness. 

"But you are" is not a question, so she doesn't answer it and Alder keeps talking "You need to link. Share your energy with her and she'll wake up"

Scylla's fundamental belief at this point is to doubt what everyone says until they've earned her trust. Alder has not earned much more than a punch to the face.

“Why should I believe you?” she asks, her posture is of defiance and Alder smiles cockily at her. 

“Oh please, I am trying to help you. I have no ulterior motives here. I’m retired” Alder crosses her arms over her chest “This is why you won't win the war. You wouldn't link with your own to save their lives because they couldn't consent to it. Buttonwood wouldn’t let it stop her”

“Well Sarah, have you considered the possibility that us not being like Buttonwood is a good thing?” she holds her glare “And I don’t believe a word you say”

Alder stands up, she’s taller than her and that’s really not fair. But Scylla wont cower under her scrutiny. 

“Here’s the deal Ramshorn you can do what I tell you and wake your girlfriend or you can be a fool and not do anything and she will die” Alder doesn’t waver but just for a second Scylla can see there’s more than what she’s saying.

“You have seen this before” she concludes and when Alder doesn’t immediately deny her she keeps going “You have seen people die due to the likers”

Alder nods only once “I have, but that's a story for later. You only need to know two things right now. If you don’t wake her up now she might never wake up and I know this because I woke her up the first time. You and Collar can go over the morals of linking to her while she can’t consent when she is awake”

The former general makes a very compelling case. But the point remains the same, can Scylla trust her? 

She takes a deep breath as if preparing herself to run into a battle “I...I’m going to trust you. Just this once” 

Alder nods and moves away to let her sit on the chair next to Raelle.

“I will guide you” she waits for Scylla to relax a bit “Now, don’t expect her to wake up right away. She will be weak and she’ll probably need to rest a lot. Take your time, but please don't take your time. I wish to share a drink with Anacostia before leaving"

"So I just link with her?"

She has her back turn but she can tell Alder is rolling her eyes as she sighs “Just do what I say”

"Okay"

"And when I say stop, you stop. Don't overwork yourself. Give her enough, but not too much” 

She nods for Alder to get it over with. 

The former general is efficient in her guidance. She’s not over bearing so Scylla can focus on the task at hand. 

But linking with an unconscious Raelle is not as hard as she imagined. One of her hands goes to Raelle’s hand and the other finds her neck, across the bandage covering the cut from removing the linker and over the scars. 

“Match her breathing and by the goddess relax!” Alder orders after maybe she takes a minute too long to calm down. 

And really she’s attempting to awake her girlfriend from a coma, so maybe Alder can cut her some slack here. 

The moment she closes her eyes and feels the link form she’s hit with a wave of calmness. 

Raelle is calm, that's good. 

But she can feel how weak she is too. 

Whenever they linked, by accident or on purpose, she could always feel Raelle’s strength through it. It was fascinating to see and to feel, and Raelle never believed when she would tell her so. 

_ “You’re so much stronger than you think” _

_ “Are you sayin’ that just to get in my pants, Ramshorn? ‘cause you don’ have to flatter me, ya know?” _

Such a fool. She loves this fool, though. She needs her to wake up. 

“Focus” Alder sounds like she’s on her head and it's unsettling for a minute before she remembers that waking Raelle up is more important than dealing with Alder right now. 

She’ll deal with Alder in a minute. 

Scylla does focus. She focuses on Raelle’s weakened state and attempts to change that. That is a bit trickier. 

She remembers once seeing her father struggling to recharge the car's battery while they were running away from the military police. And this is not her saying Raelle is anything like a car, but she feels his struggle right now. 

This feels like an anecdote she’ll tell Raelle when she wakes up and she’ll get mad and slap her hands away. She’s so easy to offend sometimes, but she’ll get over it in a minute and ask what kind of car-

Out of the blue she’s underwater. But she doesn’t think she jumped into any body of water. It's cold, and it's hard to breath but someone is gripping her hand, grounding her somehow. 

What the hells is going on?

Don’t panic. Just don’t panic. 

But isn’t that what people always say when they panic. 

What was it Alder said? 

Focus. Focus. 

What is she supposed to focus on again?

In the end is Alder’s firm grasp on her shoulder what gets her to break the link. 

“I’m curious to know what part of me saying focus on me you didn’t hear” Alder’s voice is tense. 

Scylla ignores her, instead choosing to focus on the fact that Raelle is gripping her hand back. 

“Did it work?” she looks up to find not just Alder but the biddies too “Hey, when did they get here?”

Alder ignores her last question “I believe so, but not thanks to you”

She doesn’t care about Alder’s opinion, or her biddies hovering in the background. She just wants Raelle to wake up already. 

One of the biddies offers her a glass of water and she takes it, her mouth feels dry all of sudden and she tries to stand up ‘cause she has lots of questions for Alder, but as soon as she stands her legs don’t feel strong enough to hold her weight.

“Sarah what the fuck did you do to me?” she’s aware that she’s not very threatening at the moment but Alder humors her, shaking her head a little. 

“I did nothing to you, Ramshorn. I told you to not give too much and you ignored me. Now you need rest too, although I’d say a good night of sleep should be enough” shr begins to walk out the biddies following behind “I’ll be sure to make the other aware of your situation”

With that she leaves, the last biddie closing the door behind.

Scylla is glad nobody can see her dragging herself around the bed to lie next to Raelle. 

She stares at the ceiling for the longest time hoping that by chance Raelle will wake up and feeling like shit and dealing with Alder will have been worth it. 

Nobody comes to check on her, probably thanks to Alder. She can hear the murmurs coming from downstairs as everyone is probably eating pizza and discussing what’s to come. 

And she’s lying in bed ‘cause she ignored fucking Alder’s warning and overwork herself. The older witch is probably having fun telling everyone about it. 

She looks briefly to the side, Raelle is still the same. 

She falls asleep short after, annoyed with herself and pissed at Alder. 

When she sleeps she dreams of Raelle. All the mornings they woke up next to each other. She dreams of warm kisses in the morning light and soft skin under her fingertips. She can almost feel it as if it were real, Raelle’s strong arms around her and her short hair tickling her face. 

Scylla opens her eyes slowly...she can still feel it. She turns her face to the side and she’s at home in the blue of Raelle’s eyes. 

“Mornin’ beautiful”

“Oh goddess...” she takes her face in her hand, caressing her soft skin “You’re awake”

Raelle looks at her confused “What you talkin’ ‘bout?”

“Rae, you’ve been asleep for two days” she tries to explain while observing her face carefully for any sign she might take a second nap “After your mom took out the linker”

Raelle takes a deep breath, taking it all in slowly, her brows frowning slightly “I guess that’s why I’m so hungry”

Scylla starts laughing, its sudden but not unwelcome “Goddess, you fool, I have miss you so damn much”

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIt me up on tumblr @realbluedragon


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!  
> A bit of a slow paced one today...  
> Hope you enjoy it, have a good weekend!

She’s been asleep for a while. 

Okay. 

And in that time everything’s gone to shit. 

Or so Abigail says. Tally tries to sound more optimistic, but even she can’t change the facts.

They are at war with Buttonwood. 

Great. 

Abigail and Tally can’t get much more out before Anacostia comes into the room and kicks them out.

“Alder said she needs rest, not chatting. Out” she demands, and when the two witches leave Anacostia stays, she thinks her words over “I was worried about you” she says after a long minute “I… I’m glad you’re good, Collar”

Raelle smiles tiredly “You can just say you love me, general. And you’d miss me if I was gone for good”

Anacostia shakes her head, smile still in place “I’d have much more cookies and a lot less grey hairs, but yes, I would miss you”

“Am I your favourite kid?”

“Ha. Not actually going to fall for that” her smile doesn’t waver and she shakes her head with a look of fondness “Rest for a bit, yeah? I’ll bring you lunch in a while”

“And a cookie, please” 

Anacostia turns to leave “Keep dreaming, Collar”

When she’s alone again she lies on her back staring at the ceiling. The bandage is itchy and she wonders if someone has changed it in the past two days. 

Where the hell is Willa to fix her up? If her legs didn’t feel like concrete she’d go find her and say some colorful things. Some mother she is. 

She tries to sleep like Anacostia said but she can’t stop thinking. Scylla was gone shortly after they woke up, Izadora had her go help Louise with something at Fort Salem. Abigail and Tally brought her breakfast, orange juice and a fruit bowl and Tally ended up eating all the grapes for her while Abigail laughed. 

When the food was gone and Abigail was done telling her she looked like shit, she asked them to catch her up with what had happened in the time she was unconscious. 

The look her sisters shared at her question gave her chills, but in no way did it prepare her for the words coming out of their mouths. 

They had gone through with the plan, with her mom taking her place and they had taken out Swythe, who was currently in the basement. 

Scylla kicked Buttonwood’s ass wearing Swythe’s face.

General Wick is the interim General of the Army until everything with Buttonwood is sorted out. And to help wake her up she had sent them all of the fixer reports over the war related to similar incidents. Apparently the boxes, there were many, are still in Anacostia’s car. 

Petra was supposed to come back bringing proof of why she had betrayed them, but she had yet to contact them. 

Alder had helped Scylla wake her up. That’s what they were talking about when Anacostia came to have her take a nap. 

Raelle has never been one to take naps. Even as a kid, growing up in the Cession she had always been an energetic little thing. She always kept her parents on their toes, running around and getting into trouble. 

She thinks back to when she was in the infirmary for three weeks after Harding injured her. How had she survived three weeks of that?

It had been hell, both for her and her fellow fixers who had to deal with her. 

But they couldn’t fix her the usual way. Harding had done something so the Work wouldn’t take and she was left to deal with the injury like a human. Time to heal, rest to recharge and changing the bandages everyday so it wouldn’t infect. 

And now here she is again. Only a little bit stronger than the last time, but surrounded by her family. A silver lightning of sorts. 

She falls asleep with that in mind. 

  
  
  


Scylla comes back in the afternoon. 

Raelle’s been asleep most of the day, but she wakes up and as everything comes slowly into focus she catches Scylla putting her uniform jacket away. 

“You’re back” her voice comes out as a ragged whisper, almost immediately catching Scylla’s attention and she comes to sit down in bed next to her. 

“Hey” she speaks quietly too and Raelle adores her for it “How are you feeling? Anacostia said you slept most of the day, skipped lunch too”

She nods and that about all the moves she’s been doing all the day, plus a little bit of hand gestures just for Abigail. 

She's feeling restless “I’m tired of lying here”

Scylla looks her up and down “Can you move?”

What does she have in mind? Why does it matter? The answer is no. At least not without looking a lot like a fool and probably falling on her ass. She shakes her head no. 

“I have an idea, but we have to be carefull and you can’t tell anyone cause everyone here’s on edge about you” Scylla turns suddenly and starts going over her closet as if searching for something. When she turn back around she’s holding a pair of clean pajamas “I don’t suppose you’ve taken a shower”

“Uh, no. Thanks for remindin’ me of that” 

Scylla smiles and puts the clothes down in the bed, she walks to her and kisses her softly “I’ll be back in a minute”

She’s back in about ten minutes actually. But she’s got that mischievous smile that brings so many good memories that Raelle lets it go. 

“Everything is ready” she whispers as she comes next to her and moves the covers away “Now I’m going to carry you and you’re going to be very nice about it”

Raelle doesn’t have time to answer before Scylla is holding her close to her and away from the bed. She giggles on Scylla’s shoulder. 

Scylla shakes her head but keeps walking. They cross the hallways into the bathroom and she uses her back to close the door. She starts laughing and Raelle can feel the tension ease off her. She kisses her cheek. 

“You’re cute and all, Scyl. But if you keep holdin’ me you’re gonna drop me” 

“Hey I’m strong!” but she puts her down almost as soon as the words leave her mouth. 

Just then Raelle takes in the bathtub filled with warm water and the few scented candles around the room. 

“Tally told Anacostia I was going to take a nap with you, so we have some time” Scylla explains and there’s an adorable blush coloring her cheeks. 

“This is really nice, Scyl” 

Scylla seems to recover some bravado after she reassures her, she smiles more confidently “I’m glad you think so. Let’s get you into the water then”

Raelle sighs happily as she sinks into the warm water.

“Good?” Scylla asks, and Raelle opens her eyes to find her looking legitimately concerned that this is somehow not good. 

“I mean I wouldn’t oppose you joinin’ ” she gives Scylla her most charming smile. 

Scylla rolls her eyes, but Raelle knows her well enough to know she wants to be closer to her too. 

“Let me help you wash your hair” Scylla kneels next to the bathtub and unbraids her hair, softly massaging her scalp as she washes it. 

Raelle is far too distracted by the relaxing touch. She exhales slowly and Scylla stops her movement for a second before carrying on. 

“I missed you, you know?” Scylla says quietly after a while, Raelle turns to see her frowning, a worried expression on her face “I know it was only for a short time, but I lost it there for a minute”

Lost it for a minute “I heard you kicked her butt”

She doesn’t say the name, they both know who she’s talking about. 

Scylla chuckles “Yeah, I guess that was pretty badass” she stands up, drying her hands on a towel. 

“Are you not gonna join me?” she asks. And maybe she’s being petulant here, but Scylla went into all the trouble of doing this whole thing for her, shouldn’t she too enjoy it?

Scylla pauses “Well I didn't plan on it, no”

“You need a shower too” 

“Are you saying I smell?” Scylla plays offended, but her smile betrays her. 

Raelle is glad for the smile ‘cause she doesn’t think she has the strength right now to convince her “Scyl, just for a bit. C’mon”

Scylla rolls her eyes but gets rid of her clothes quickly and gets into the bathtub sitting behind her. Raelle supports herself against her and Scylla holds her close. 

“I like this”

Scylla laughs “I can tell, you got comfy fast”

Is not a lie. So she doesn’t care to deny it. Scylla herself said she’s missed her this past few days, and even now Raelle can tell she’s all talk. She likes it too. Maybe she wanted it too, but didn’t want to be the one who had to ask for it. 

That sounds like Scylla.

“I’m worried ‘bout you” she tests the waters, Scylla tenses behind her. 

“Why?”

Why is she worried really? She hadn't gotten that far in her head “Cause I care ‘bout you, and I know that even when you told me you could beat Buttonwood in a fist fight you didn’ mean it. So why did you? This isn’t like you, Scyl. You’re all talk no bite, especially with her, ‘cause you know the risk”

Scylla sighs, her grip on her waist tightens just a bit, but enough for Raelle to notice.

“I have lost so much already, to all these generals who don’t care that I...I can’t take it anymore” she pauses, and takes a deep breath before continuing “And it was, well it's been a couple of very difficult days, brought a lot of memories and you weren’t here to remind me I have someone to talk and trust. Tally tried, the others too, but...when Buttonwood came at me, tried to kill me thinking I was Swythe, I don’t know I guess I snapped”

She gets it. She really does. They’re in such an awful position. A war they never wanted. Just like all those other ones before. A war they don’t know if they can win. 

They keep saying they’ll get peace when it's all over. That one day they won’t have to fight anymore, but Raelle can’t say she truly believes it. 

She wishes she could. She wants to believe it. 

She wants peace and stupid normal life that is so boring it keeps her up at nights. She wants Scylla to be awake with her in the middle of the night, in their house by the beach, cause boredom won’t let her sleep either, and they’ll laugh it off and find a solution together. She wants to have to find new hobbies to fill their normal lifes, maybe she’ll take crossword puzzles or painting by numbers, something to stupid she could’ve never seen herself doing but somehow it makes perfect sense. 

And even though she is imagining it all right in this moment she can’t escape the fact that she’s here. That this is her life. She’s injured. Barely made it out of a coma after her momma took off a piece of tech put on her body by her nemesis to control her, to torture her. The woman she loves is losing her mind, her family is getting ready for battle. They could all die. 

She’s sitting on a bathtub with the woman she loves and it's nothing like she could’ve ever imagined. Her body is tired and sore, she can barely move without Scylla’s help. Scylla is falling apart.

How is she supposed to work this out? She’s a good fixer, but even she can’t fix all this. 

She moves her head to see Scylla and her breath catches in her throat. 

"You're cryin' "

Scylla quickly dries her tears with one hand "No, I...I'm happy here with you," she’s trembling and she swallows back a sob as the words leave her mouth. 

"Why are you cryin' then?" this is the worst angle to have this conversation, hell it's the worst moment. How is she supposed to comfort her if she can barely move? Still she manages to lift her hand high enough to brush Scylla’s tears away as they keep falling. 

Scylla follows Raelle’s hands with her head, she doesn’t seem to want to break the contact "Cause people had to die for me to be here with you"

"Your team" 

Scylla nods "Yeah. I...want to tell you about them sometime"

“Okey”

“I, uh, this was supposed to be a relaxing bath for you. I’m sorry-”

Raelle takes her hand and brings it back to its previous place on her waist “You don’t have to say anythin’ and you can change your mind. We can stay here in silence for a bit more if you wanna and then we go to bed” she cranks her neck in a bad angle to see her face and Scylla smiles just a bit “I just wanna be with you right now, I don’t care what we’re doin’ ”

Scylla sighs, her shoulders fall and Raelle can see all her walls fall apart in an instant. When she looks up again her eyes are sad and her lips tremble as she tries to contain her emotions “I really missed you. And I don’t wanna say that I lost it with her ‘cause you weren’t there but ever since we found each other again I feel more in control when I’m with you, like I’m more me. Does that make sense? Goddess, I really missed you, Rae”

Raelle caresses her cheek softly “Hey, it's okay. We choose the worst moment to do this, you and me, everythin’ is messy and complicated right now. But I’m glad I got you, yeah? And you got me too”

Scylla nods “Thank you”

  
  
  


Days go by before she feels any better. Scylla is still busy a lot and Anacostia tries to keep her off the loop of things. She says that Raelle doesn’t need to worry about all the stuff going on, she needs to focus on getting stronger. 

And even though she hates to admit it, the general is probably right that worrying won’t make her get stronger any faster. It will only give her more headaches and make her more restless than she already feels. 

Willa comes to visit her one day after lunch. She doesn’t say much at first, but Raelle can tell she feels guilty about the whole thing. She doesn’t have the strength to have that conversation yet, nor has she decided how she feels about it, so instead she asks if she has spoken to her dad, and Willa ends up spending the whole afternoon telling her stories. 

Some are from the last couple of months, but after some pushing and prodding she gets stories from before she was born, when it was just Willa and Edwin making due with what they had. Hiding from the army at first like two fools in love and when they got married and she was gone a lot. They used to write letters and sometimes they would arrive at the same time she’d get home, and they’d read them to each other while sitting on the couch.

“You love him, don’t you?” she asks just as her mom finishes a story about a birthday cake fail that almost made the kitchen explote. Raelle has seen the burning marks on the wall, but she didn’t know the story. Thinking of her home in the Cession, of her pop, it makes her smile. 

What catches her by surprise is the fondness in her mom’s voice, the look of love in her eyes. It's like all this time she’s been missing a piece of the puzzle and now that she’s found she finally can see the whole picture. She gets it now. 

Willa looks surprised by her question “Of course I love ‘im, kid. Your pop...He’s my home. All the good things in life I got ‘cause of him. I got you”

“Mamma!” she intends it as a, don’t be such a sap, mom. But she realizes at the same time as Willa of what she’s said. It's too late to take it back now, but she’s not entirely sure she wants too. She hasn’t called her that since before she “died” She’s been Willa from the moment she saw her again in the meeting with Alder. Back then it had been to keep her at arm's length, to keep herself from falling apart. 

Somehow she feels sixteen again, sitting on the porch of her home in the Cession waiting for her to come back after another tour. She’d always get a smile and hug, a kiss on the forehead and a soft “miss ya, kid” before Willa would throw her walls back up. 

She’s always loved her momma. Even when she lied and betrayed them a part of her has always been the little girl who looked up to her momma, who wanted to grow up and be strong like her, brave like her. And when she was old enough to understand the silence and the empty looks Willa always had when she returned from tour, her momma was gone. 

When Raelle herself became a reflection of her mother, she was angry, she was mad. And Willa was Spree, the bad guys, the enemy turned ally for convenience. It’s always been complicated, but not now. Today feels like a brave new day for them, and is easy to embrace the bond they’ve always shared, to fall back to what she's always known. 

They are living on borrowed time. Tomorrow is a black hole that might or might not come to be for all of them. She doesn’t wanna hold any stupid grudges when the time comes. 

Willa waits for a denial for long enough and when it doesn’t come she looks relieved 

“A’ight I won’t keep bringin’ up the mushy stuff” her smiles is a bit wider, it all feels lighter somehow “You should get some sleep, yeah?”

“I don’ like naps, mamma”

Willa laughs fondly “Don’ I know it. But you gotta, so how ‘bout this, you take a nap and I’ll get Quartermaine to give you a cookie?”

She’s been eating fruit and soup for so long that she will actually die if her mamma gets her a cookie “Yes, please. I want a cookie”

“Real nap, though” Willa warns, and they’ve had this conversation so many times growing up. Willa has always been too good at knowing whether she actually slept or just lied in bed refusing to sleep “You know I can tell”

And Raelle really wants her cookies “Yes, ma’am”

Willa leaves, and she can hear her soft laughter as she walks away in the hallway. 

  
  
  


She can be annoying when she wants to and Anacostia, despite her strong denial, has always had a soft spot for her. It takes Raelle four days to convince her she’s strong enough to spend some time downstairs with everyone else and catch up to what’s been happening with the whole Buttonwood thing. 

Anacostia complains the whole time, but she allows her in the living room. On the couch, no moving, no loud noises, and no cookies. 

That last bit she adds like an afterthought and Raelle knows she did it on purpose. 

Tally, Abigail and Gerit join her after lunch. She gets soup as usual, and something about the smug smile on Abigail’s face as she watches her slurping the soup tells her they didn’t get soup for lunch. Anacostia takes the plate from her and walks away. 

“Good lunch, shitbird?” Abigail sits on the other end of the couch, careful not to accidentally push her. 

“Fuck you Abi” 

Tally cuts them off before they can even begin “Let’s not fight. Abi she’s healing, be nice”

Abigail rolls her eyes “She was being a shitbird. Who slurps their soup, Rae?”

Tally throws files at the two of them “Silent reading time”

“Keep it up, Tal and we’ll tell Gerit embarrassing stories about you” Abigail threatens and Raelle laughs nodding along. 

“What is all this?” she asks pointing to the open boxes on the table and around the room.

“Wick’s fixers files” Abigail barely looks up from her own folder, but suddenly her eyes go wide “You know what we should do? We should look for shitbird’s files. I’m curious to know what you wrote about” 

People who died, people who were injured. Daily report of losses. 

“I promise it's no fun” she says quietly and Abigail stops searching.

“Yeah, I figured. We’ve been reading this for a while and...they’re no good” she pushes the box away with a bit more force than necessary, and sits down on the floor with a tired sigh.

She looks so young suddenly, like a teengaer having to figure out what to do with the rest of their lives. The teenager that in many ways they never got to be. Raelle feels this way a lot too, but it hits differently when she sees it in her sister.

Tally sees it too and she whispers something in Gerit’s ear. He stands up a bit too quickly for it to be casual.

“I’m going to read outside for a bit” he explains as he picks a small pile of files “The, uh, light is better...outside” 

Abigail watches him walk away with a frown “What was that about? Are you two okay?”

Raelle is curious for that answer too. Tally had gone to see her everyday, but always very subtly refused to speak about her marriage, choosing instead to read to her or remember funny anecdotes. It was nice, it just wasn’t what Raelle wanted. 

“I don’t want to talk about Gerit now, I-”

“Tal!” she cuts her off, and Abigail grins knowing she’s won. 

Tally rolls her eyes at the two of them “I hate that I love you so much I can’t hate you”

Loving them didn’t stop her from not inviting them to her Vegas wedding. 

“I just want to know if I should cancel the party I’ve been low-key planning all this time” Abigail complains.

That’s a big fat lie and everyone knows it. Tally though, just rolls with it.

“We’re fine...ish”

Abigail snorts and sits back, her head hits Raelle’s legs on the couch “Sorry shitbird” she says quickly and immediately turns her attention back to Tally “Spill, Craven”

“It doesn’t feel like the right time” Tally tries again, and Raelle gets the feeling that it is a genuine concern for Tally, that this might not be the right time. 

“C’mon, Tal, ‘s just us. When was the last time we had a conversation that wasn’ ‘bout the army or our possible and impendin’ doom?”

“Dark turn, Rae, I approve” Abigail nods her approval and turns to Tally pointing with her finger at Raelle “What shitbird said”

Tally sighs, she knows she’s lost. But she seems happy to have lost? Or happy to be able to talk about this “She is his mom, guys. And we’re actively plotting to take her down. We sort of took her down. Scylla kicked her, literally too apparently. Gerit and I, just us, we’re fine. Everything else is the problem, you know? He’s going to help us because it's the right thing to do, but he’s torn, obviously. Its too fucking complicated”

“And that why I’m single” Abigail shakes her head “Relationships are too fucking complicated”

Raelle nods slowly. Yeah, they are. But she and Scylla are making it work. 

Abigail catches sight of her and laughs “Daydreaming about Necro, aren’t we?”

She is so unhelpful when she wants to. 

And just then Scylla walks in from the kitchen with Louise. They are deep in conversation, but stop abruptly when they see them. 

“Speak of the devil” Abigail lifts both her eyebrows “I can’t tell which is one is suppose to be the devil, though”

“Is it ‘cause we’re both Necro?” Louise asks, tilting her head slightly to the side “That’s offensive Bellweather”

“Bite me Swythe” 

Louise shakes her head, a crooked smile playing on her lips “Might take you up on that one”

Abigail rolls her eyes so hard, Raelle is worried for a minute. Scylla shoves Louise forward into the room “Louise, you’re blocking my path” 

“Oh sorry” Louise moves out of the way. 

Scylla walks straight to Raelle with a sweet smile and kisses her lips for a moment “Hey, Anacostia finally let you out. How are you feeling?”

“She’s good, Ramshorn” Abigail cuts in “And we were in the middle of something”

Scylla rolls her eyes “This is why you’re single, by the way”

Tally clears her throat “Hey, sorry to break in. Can we go back to me?”

Raelle laughs remembering how Izadora said a couple days ago that the house was crowded.

Scylla seems to take in that she and Louise are probably disturbing their conversation. She grabs Louise’s arm and drags her out of the room “Our duties on base await us Lieutenant. We’ll be back in a while”

Louise takes her arm away from Scylla with a scoff and walks back to the living room. Stopping in front of Raelle she passes her a small bag from her pocket. 

“What’s this?” Raelle asks curiously. 

“Louise!”

“Gotta go, Cap. But I think you’ll enjoy it” she runs out of the room after Scylla.

Raelle opens the small package and two cookies fall to her lap. Oh goddess, Louise stole Anacostia’s cookies for her. 

“Damn, somebody tell Ramshorn that she has competition!” Abigail laughs and Tally groans. 

“C’mon!”

“Right. Back to you Tal” Abigail promises. 

They do good on their promise. And by the end of it, she feels better. They all do. Raelle, very reluctantly and guilt tripped, shares the last cookie with her sisters and everyone is happy.

It's nice after all the shit they’ve been through these past few weeks to have a day off. Even if she knows, a day off in these circumstances is nothing but a fantasy. Willa, Anacostia and Izadora are nowhere to be found, probably in a room somewhere plotting. Scylla and Louise are at Fort Salem going over the last stuff in General Swythe’s office. Gerit is still outside going over Wick’s files. 

Everyone is doing something. In their own way they’re all fighting. 

It's what makes this fight worth it. 

This family. 

Tally hugs them after they talk. She seems relieved to know they think the same as her about this whole thing, and reassured that she is right about this fight being worth it. 

And Abigail too, looks more relaxed. 

"Next time we hang out let's make it like a spa trip or something" Tally asks with a pout "Yeah?"

Raelle's never been to a spa before. That sounds like a dream.

So they agree.

  
  
  


Izadora walks in sometime after to let them know Petra will be coming over to give them the proof she promised. And at the same time Gerit walks in from the patio looking worried. 

“Tally, I think I found something” he stops when he sees the general standing there “Oh, sorry if I interrupted, but I think this could be it. About the linkers” 

Izadora takes the file from him and he sits down next to Tally. He’s nervous for some reason, but Raelle guesses Izadora can be pretty intimidating. 

“Fort Saint James” Izadora mumbles “We’ll have to dig deeper into this, but you might be onto something here, I-”

She’s interrupted again, not by Gerit this time, but by a loud and sudden noise coming from outside. It sounds like...a blast. 

Abigail is the first one on her feet, she runs to the window “Fuck! We need to go outside” and she doesn’t wait for no one. 

Raelle struggles to stand up and when Izadora and Gerit follow Abigail,Tally helps her walk outside. 

From the front door she can see Lieutenant Ashford standing in the middle of a street, arms extended as she controls two columns of wind. Abigail, Gerit and Izadora are fighting to keep her at bay, but they’re not fearing too well. Scylla is behind them, kneeled on the ground next to Louise. 

Raelle supports herself on Tally and after a long couple of minutes they reach the two witches. 

“I’ll go help them,” Tally says in a hurry before running away. 

Scylla helps her down and finally she takes on Louise, she is laying on the floor a knife protruding from her chest right over her heart. 

Raelle knows immediately that Louise is not gonna make it. 

The look on the young lieutenant’s face says she knows it too. 

Still, she has to do something, she searches her brain for something, she takes her hand offering support if nothing else “Louise, I…”

Louise let’s out a shaky breath holding onto her hand “No, don’t. I...It’s okay, Cap, I...can’t-” she stops abruptly and takes on a big raggedy breath “I want to go...mom and... I wanna… I wanna go with her and dad”

Raelle moves the hair away from Louise’s face and nods slowly. She wants to cry, but she won’t. Not now. 

Still Louise can sense it “Don’t be sad, Raelle, I know I’m… I’m a catch, but...you get the second best...now, you get..Ramshorn” 

Scylla laughs, hastily cleaning her tears away. 

“Cap, do you remember the party, when I...uh, I stole you from Treefine and we danced and you kissed me” she laughs and chokes on her breath. 

Raelle nods “Yeah, I remember”

“I liked that night” she turns to Scylla with a small crooked smile “Thanks for...not turning me into mush...mushroom for kissing her”

The wind stops abruptly, there’s voices yelling but Raelle can’t focus on any of that for now. Abigail joins them then, pushing her hair away from her face with a hand “Is she okay?”

Louise turns her smile at Abigail, a spark of mischievousness appears in her eyes “We...we cool Bellweather?”

Abigail nods “Yeah, we’re cool, Swythe”

“That’s good” she nods slowly. She doesn’t speak again, her grip on Raelle’s hand tightens before she exhales tiredly, her shoulders fall and closes her eyes for the last time.

Fuck. 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

“Is she…?” Abigail searches her eyes for answers. 

“Yeah, Abi, she’s...she’s dead”

“Fuck” Abigail looks away “ I can’t...this shit, again”

Anacostia comes up from behind them and puts a hand on Abigail’s shoulder. 

“We should take her inside” her eyes briefly fall on Louise “C’mon, we can’t let her death be for nothing”

“But it is” Abigail stands up shaking Anacostisa’s hands away “It was, she died for nothing! Look-”

“She died fighting, Abigail. It might not have been fair” Anacostia’s words are just as hard and cutting as Abigail’s. She’s hurting too “But she believed in this fight”

“Is not fair, people shouldnt have to die like this” Abigail’s whole body trembles with every word.

“Then fight for that” Anacostia pust a hand on her shoulder “Fight like Louise would, Abigail. Make it right”

“Make it right” Scylla whispers harshly “How do we make this right?”

Raelle doesn’t have any words to say. She’s too shaken up to even begin to articulate what she feels. 

Scylla stands and holds her hand out for her to take. Behind them Petra and Izadora have Lieutenant Ashford tied up. 

The young witch laughs maniacally, she looks at everyone of them before speaking. 

But if this is Ashford speaking, it sounds a ehole lot like Buttonwood. 

“There’s no place for traitors no more. Swythe was only the first. I won’t forget what you’ve done”

And just like that Ashford’s head falls. She's unconciouss. 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, here's the next chapter that I almost forgot to post, anyways enjoy and have a good weekend!

She runs down the stairs to the basement in a hurry. 

The voices calling her name become more quiet with every step she takes. 

But she can’t hear what anyone has to say right now. 

She needs Swythe to explain.

The basement is quiet and the general is asleep, tied up in her chair like she’s been for the past week. 

Scylla kicks the chair with enough force to send it flying had the woman not been sitting there. 

“What-? What is the meaning of this?” The general opens her eyes wide, unprepared for the attack “This is unacceptable behaviour, I might be a prisoner Sargeant Ramshorn but-”

“She’s dead!” she cuts her off “She’s dead and it's on you! You did this!”

Swythe takes in the state of her, the dry blood in her hands and clothes and her red rimmed eyes “Who is dead?”

Scylla tries to breathe normally, but she can’t.

It's too much. 

“Sergeant Ramshorn, who is dead?” Swythe asks again.

She looks into the general’s eyes and there is so much to say, but only one word comes out “Louise”

Swythe staggers back as if she had been punched “No. No, it can’t be. You are lying”

“What do I win by lying? Huh? Tell me!” she walks to the woman threateningly. She question angers her even more than she thought possible “What do I win-”

“Scylla!”

Raelle.

Scylla stops in her tracks. She stops and takes a deep breath. Izadora reaches her before she can take anymore stupid decisions. 

“C’mon, kid. Let’s go get you some tea” she puts a hand on her back soothingly. 

Raelle waits for her by the door. She’s supporting her weight against the doorframe and when they reach her she throws her arms around her. 

The moment she feels Raelle’s arms she feels a little more calm. Izadora ushers them out and closes the door behind them. 

Swythe’s shouting slowly dies down until they can’t hear her anymore. 

Despite the storm brewing inside her mind, Scylla helps Raelle to the couch in the living room where everyone has converged. 

Louise’s...body has been moved and is now covered by a white sheet. 

“We called Wick” Anacostia speaks, her words are tense, like she’s on edge. They all are. 

“And Ashford?” the killer, she wants to say. It's probably a good thing she’s not here cause she’s not responsible for what she might do to the younger witch right now. 

“She’s contained,” Anacostia says simply, and she doesn’t offer more. 

Silence falls between them. Is heavy with implications and Louise is not here to break it with a stupid comment. She’s dead.

She still can’t wrap her mind around it. 

Raelle holds onto her, her head on Scylla’s shoulder. 

“We have to talk about this” Izadora passes the tea cups around, she’s faring better than everyone else. She almost seems calm. 

And had it not happened when Louise was with her Scylla probably would be too. It's the Necro way. Later on, when she calms down a little she will remember how death is a lot more complicated than just an end, but not now. 

“What’s there to say?” she asks instead, and Raelle nods against her shoulder. 

Izadora sits down next to Anacostia, who takes her hand in hers as if searching for support. 

“Ashford was not herself” Petra takes a sip of her tea looking between the people congregated on the room “I suspect puppeteering”

And it makes sense. Ashford came out of nowhere and never once spoke to them. Skipped right past pleasantries and stabbed Louise, wind-striked Scylla to keep her away from her. Next thing she remembers Petra and Abigail were struggling to contain her and Scylla ran to Louise but it was too late. 

It's always too late. 

Her parents, her team and now Louise. 

“Okay, listen everyone” Anacostia puts on her best face and leads them forward. She’s good at that “I know this is hard, Louise was one of us, even if only for a short time. She was a good kid, and this...thing was fucked up. But we need to remain strong. Buttonwood sent us a message loud and clear, and we won’t allow it to happen again. There can be no more Louises, okay? So let’s get to work”

As far as motivational speeches go is not the best, but given the current circumstances it works. Anacostia sends everyone away with a mission. 

Everyone except for Raelle, whose duty is to take a nap. Scylla helps her to their room and into the bed. 

Raelle doesn’t let go of her “Stay with me for a bit” she pleads. 

And Scylla’s never been one to deny her, but the timing is shit “Raelle, I-”

“No, Scyl, no excuses. Come to bed with me, just for a minute” 

Scylla obeys, and sits down next to her. 

“Raelle, I’m fine really-”

Raelle cuts her off with a hug that makes time stop for an instant. And Scylla takes a shaky breath as she falls apart. It's like she can’t hold it in anymore. She has felt just like this too many times before, and she knows just like all those other times that she never again wants to feel like this. 

Raelle’s soft words of comfort are new. It helps her slow down and clear her mind. She’s angry still, but it's easier to breathe. She holds onto her as if the world depends on it. It feels safe here. 

Like a refuge in the storm, Raelle is her safe haven. 

All too soon it comes to an end. Steps on the hallways break them apart and Raelle kisses her cheek, her fingers linger across her jaw as if there is more she wants to say. 

“Come find me later. I’m here, Scyl” she says as she lets her hands fall down. 

Scylla catches her hand before it falls, she doesn’t want to let go “I know. You try to sleep for a bit, yeah?” 

Raelle nods lying down on bed, with a sigh she moves her hand away to let her go “ ‘kay”

Out in the hallway she finds Petra waiting for her. 

“We need to talk” 

Scylla walks past her “No we don’t”

Petra takes her arm, halting her escape “Is not a question, Ramshorn! She told you, didn’t she? It's why you went to her aunt. She started this”

“And you ended it!” she snaps and Petra let’s go of her arm.

“I was doing my job!” Petra snaps too, She looks different than her usual composed and on top of her shit self. She’s losing her cool, and for once Scylla is delighted to see her crumble “What happened in Spain, that wasn’t me”

And there her happy feelings go. Spain. Why did she bring up Spain? Was this one mess they’re involved in now not enough, that she needed to drag Spain into this?

“I don’t believe you” it's a defense mechanism. She hasn’t believed a word Petra has spoken since Spain. 

Petra sighs “Fine, don’t. But you know me, Scylla. You know I’m all about winning and your team, you were winning the war for everyone. You were making me look good in front of Alder. Why would I throw it all away?” 

She makes a compelling point, and Scylla wants to believe her. It's true she got to know Petra better during the war. She got to see the woman and not the general. Scylla knows that underneath all the High Atlantic bullshit, Petra cares. And when it matters she shows up. But there’s a big difference between knowing someone and trusting them. 

“You betrayed us” she won’t give up that easily. Petra lifts an eyebrow as if she were asking which time “You gave us to Buttonwood”

“The car, the money, the bag” Petra recounts, she seems annoyed to have to explain this to her “Do you think I had a change of heart last minute and just happened to have all those things laying around? You are a lot smarter than that”

Something she hates about the general is that she is always ready. And she’s not lying about anything here. It makes sense that she’d be ready. Petra is always ready, she always has a plan, a back up plan, and a back up plan for the back up plan. Scylla learned that from her. 

But the point remains that Petra did lie to her about one detail. A detail Louise revealed to her before she died. And maybe it was by omission, it wasn’t important then, but now it's the single thread tying it all together in her tired, broken mind. 

_“I got to tell you something” Louise struggles to sit up, and Scylla pulls her back down softly._

_“Don’t waste your breath, Willa will come and she-”_

_“I’m not gonna make it and you know it” Louise cuts her off, she speaks quickly as if time was scarce and it is “There’s a-. Listen, Scylla, I found something on my aunt’s office and I wanted to tell you...like later, but-”_

_“What is it?” she cuts her off. She’s always hated Louise’s ability to go in circles about important matters as if she was a fucking ballerina. It makes her want to yell, just go to the point already. But not now. Now what she needs is more time._

_Louise searches her pockets and after a second she pulls a photo and pases it to her “That’s you, and that is my mom”_

_She looks down at the photo and can’t believe what she sees. It's the picture of her team taken in Fort Saint James the night of Beltane. They were gone two days later and that was the beginning of the end, And now Louise is pointing at her face and smiling weakly and Scylla can’t wrap her mind around it. Marion. Her teammate. Her surrogate mother. Her friend. She searches Louise’s eyes for a clue._

_“How-”_

_“I guess we were sisters all along, huh?” there’s something that looks a lot like longing on Louise’s tired eyes._

_Scylla nods weakly and tries to smile. If only they had more time “I never had a sister before”_

_“I...‘twas good, right? This whole... adventure”_

_Scylla nods, she looks over her shoulder to catch Raele and Tally approach. Louise still looks at her with hope and Scylla knows what her answer is, she’s only sorry it took her this long to figure it all out “Yeah, it was. Never thought I’d get a sister out of it. I don’t hate it”_

_Louise laughs, she’s in pain. It's clear in the way she closes her fists and her eyes are closed, but she laughs, and it's such a Louise thing to do._

_“Didn’t really liked you at first, but, uh...you’re okay”_

_“You’re okay too, Louise”_

  
  


“Did you always know?” she asks Petra “Who Marion was?”

“When Alder put the Spree agents under my command I was as surprised as you are now, to see Marion Swythe's name on the list, okay?” Petra is trying, and it's a welcomed change. It makes her feel less foolish for demanding answers “Before she got involved with humans and ran away, she was doing a good job for herself among the Necros. She’d probably would’ve become their general by now had she not-. She was supposed to be dead, and I never cared much for it, it was a Swythe’s matter. But I met her again in Fort Saint James before I got the list. She was working on the field, under Buttonwood’s command”

Scylla can tell there’s more to the story than this. After all if Petra is here is because she has the proof she has been talking about before.

“Why are you telling me about this? We should get everyone together-”

Petra puts a hand on her shoulder to slow her down “Scylla, I know” her voice is soft, almost as if she was speaking to a child “I only wanted to give you a heads up. I will bring it up with everyone. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t take you by surprise, this isn’t just names on a paper for you. This was your family”

And Scylla is still not one hundred percent of anything with Petra, but she is thankful. 

“Okay. I… Thank you, Petra” she means it and by the expression of surprise in the general’s face she knows it “I should go, Anacostia is supposed to give me my assignment”

“Of course” Petra moves aside to let her pass and they each go their way. 

  
  
  


Anacostia doesn’t have a duty for her. She hands her a drink instead and Scylla would say she loves her if that wasn’t weird. But she does take the offered drink and sits down on the couch. 

She has not been to Anacostia’s study before now, but it makes sense that she has one considering Izadora has the whole basement to herself. 

The general looks pleased with the attention Scylla dedicates to take in her space. 

“I put it together over the years” she explains, watching Scylla’s eyes travel from item to item “With the war and everything, I didn’t have the strength of mind to make this place feel like home. Izadora had to force me. Can you imagine? But slowly bit by bit I made this space my own. It was...life changing”

Life changing. She says it as if it were a good thing. In her own personal experience, life changing is never good. She’s more than ready for a life where life changing things can be positive.

In the meantime she drinks her bourbon in silence. 

“I wanted to check on you,” Anacostia says after a minute.

Why is everyone checking on her now?

“Izadora thinks you're fine. She said Necros are tough. But I’m the one with three kids, you know? So I differ, want to see for myself” 

Three kids. It makes her smile, like whenever someone references them being a family. It's cute in a way she finds strange. Her team, they were her family. But life as spies in the middle of a war was tough, they fought together and then told stories and jokes to distract themselves from the horrors they saw, it was a family defined by their need to survive, it wasn’t cute. 

But this, the soft smiles and careful touches, the fondness in every expression of disbelief. The banter and the jokes, it's new yet old. They way they approach every interaction without fearing it could be the last. She feels it in her bones and in her heart. 

If her parents had lived she’d have this with them, she knows it. 

Like she knows they’d be happy she’s found it now, even if they are not a part of it. 

“I’m not fine-”

“And no one expects you to be” Anacostia is quick to assure her “None of us are. But we have to remember we have each other. We are living hard times, Scylla”

_“The war is over, but our fight has just begin”_

She remembers those words, from their meeting in Fort Salem right before she joined Abigail’s team. It had been a warning, but it had also been so much more. A premonition. Anacostia probably hadn’t imagined how right she’d been. 

“I know” as far as answers go, she's not even trying. 

She’s saved from Anacostia’s disapproving words by the study’s door being thrown open. 

“Anacostia, I-” Abigail’s eyes fall on the two witches and she takes a step back “Sorry. I didn’t know...I’ll go”

Instead of an answer Anacostia pours another drink and offers it to Abigail “Come in, sit down”

Abigail searches Scylla’s eyes, asking if it's okay and she nods. 

She remembers thinking about how one day she’d develop silent conversation with Abigail and it would be both glorious and terrifying. It's none. It's comforting. 

“I, uh, checked on Lieutenant Ashford like you asked” she looks at Scylla for a second before turning her attention back to the general “She’s confused. Says she doesn’t know why she’s being locked. Last thing she remembers she was retrieving some folder from the Archive”

Anacostia nods as she sits back down on the armchair. She’s thinking, going over the whole thing in her head.

“And the knife was the same one Buttonwood used when she fought Scylla”

Both her and Abigail are taken aback but that. Scylla should have seen that. She was right there with Louise, far too overwhelmed to check the knife. 

“It is?” she can’t help but ask. She should’ve known there was more. There’s always more with Buttonwood. She pissed her off and now Louise is dead because of her. 

“Even if it is the same knife, is not your fault” Abigail beats the general to the answer “It's Buttonwood’s. She did this”

Anacostia puts her glass down “It is the knife. And we’re agreed that the only one at fault here is Buttonwood, yes?”

The question is directed at her. Like if both witches can tell she feels guilty. Maybe if they believe in her, she can try too “Okay”

A second knock on the door comes a minute later and this time they wait before entering. 

“Come in” Anacostia calls. 

Gerit takes a step into the room, his face is pale and sweaty, he looks sick. 

“Gerit are you okay?” Abigail asks when he doesn’t say anything. 

He nods weakly with his head, but his expression remains unchanged “Yeah, I’m…” he gives up on trying to convince them and it's probably a good move “General L’Amara sent me to tell you that General Wick and General Alder are here”

“Alder?” Scylla directs her question at Anacostia, but the general is already back to business. 

“Go get Willa to check on you, Gerit. Abigail, please tell the generals to meet me here” Abigail nods and begins moving “Scylla go get Raelle. We’re meeting in the living room in fifteen minutes”

Everyone is on the move after that and Scylla has not forgotten how her question was not answered. But she’s not getting anything out of Anacostia right now. 

As she walks back towards their room she wonders what Alder is doing here. Maybe it has something to do with how she said, or implied really, that she had seen the linkers before. Ashford probably has one. She’s met the lieutenant twice, and she might be a High Atlantic elitist asshole and have a huge crush on Raelle, but she never striked her as a knife wielding killer. 

Inside their room, Raelle is not asleep as she should be. But she is getting to bed, so at least she’s trying. 

“Hey”

Raelle smiles sheepishly “Hi. You here to stay with me or to take me away?”

Scylla is very seriously considering running away with her. But they won’t. They can’t. Family really comes by surprise and takes your joy away. Now she has to stay cause she has people. An army of people she cares for and a war to win. 

“Anacostia said meeting is in fifteen minutes, so a bit of both”

Raelle sighs and makes no move to actually get out of bed. Scylla sits down next to her.

“How are you holding up?” she asks cautiously. 

“Tryin’ to wrap my head ‘round it still. It doesn’ feel real”

That she can understand. Nothing’s felt real for a while now. She catches Raelle staring at her. 

“What?” she feels self conscious all of sudden. Can Raelle too see what she’s thinking?

Raelle gives her a small smile and kisses her softly. She breaks apart abruptly. 

“Your lips taste of bourbon” 

“Anacostia”

“You think you can slip me some next time?” Raelle pouts and Scylla kisses her again, just for a little bit longer. 

“I don’t think so. You need to get stronger, Rae, not drunk” she holds her hand out for Raelle to get up “I promise we’ll get drunk soon”

Raelle's smile grows to a grin “I’ll take ya up on that Ramshorn. Let’s go”

  
  
  


“Okay,” Petra brings everyone’s attention to her, “I’ll explain now. I told you before I have been investigating this long before Anacostia and Izadora asked me to look on Section 5 with them”

Alder looks bored to have to sit through this. Wick on the other hand looks concentrated in whatever Petra is going to say. Everyone else has been waiting far too long for this moment. 

“This all goes back to thirty years ago when General Swythe’s youngest sister allegedly died in battle. Except that’s not what happened at all, and I only learned the truth when I took over Intelligence. Marion Swythe deserted, she married a human and they became dodgers. They had a kid, a daughter who had the gift, they called her Louise”

Very suddenly she has everyone's attention. No one asks questions, though. It would only derail the story. Scylla thinks, hearing this story for the second time or third time, that she should have been able to put two and two together. 

Petra carries on “The Swythes made it look like she died, but kept looking for her. The late General Swythe, her mother, ran Military Police at the time and used it to hunt them down. When they were found the husband was killed on the spot, Marion was sent to military prison and the kid sent away. And that should’ve been all, except the Swythe’s are prideful assholes and what Marion did wounded their ego. Hating the humans, dodgers and the Spree it became the cornerstone of who they are. Alder might have created Section 5, and Buttonwood might have capitalized on a growing unrest within our troops, but none if this would’ve happened without the one witch currently tied up in the basement”

It's a good speech, it always is with Petra. But Scylla is not the only one with questions. Abigail looks at her mother as if deciding whether or not to ask, finally she does “How?”

“Because” Petra pushes past her annoyance “Swythe rallied the troops. What her sister did brought shame to the family, and even though her mother tried to hide it, there were rumors. Especially among High Atlantics. She became radicalized, and she was a Swythe, a High Atlantic, she legitimized something that other smaller, less important sectors of the army were feeling. She made it alright to have those opinions. Swythe sowed the field for Buttonwood and Section 5 to reap it”

“So you have told us how they came to be” Wick seems unconvinced “And as someone who was in War College at the time I know it to be true. But how does it all come together, Petra?”

Petra sits back down “That’s the thing. I spent the last couple days down at the archive, avoiding Treefine and trying to tie all these threads together. My best guess is, the radical faction was born of Swythe, and Buttonwood took advantage of the movement to further her agenda. Sure she hates the dodgers, the spree, anyone who isn’t her too maybe, but it's very clear her motivation is power. Alder’s Section 5 gave her that, and through it she moved her people to key positions. Alder basically gave her power over everyone-”

“That is not true” Alder cuts her off, her tone is calm. But her whole demeanor is off “Section 5 was important at the time. I gave her enough leeway so she could do her duty”

“You gave her enough leeway that she turned the army against you and put her people everywhere” Petra pushes back, this is the closest she’s come to losing her control and it's a strange sight “You let her play you, Sarah, and she beat you at the game you were suppose to be the best at. You were supposed to be our leader, what happened to that?”

Alder doesn’t answer. And that might be a first. In the wake of her silence no one is sure of how to proceed. 

In the end is Izadora who breaks it “So you say Buttonwood had people everywhere in the war. You lead our Intelligence, were you compromised as well?”

“I took precautions. Four years into the war I saw Marion again-”

“Wait, Marion? Wasn’t she in prison?” Abigail asks again, and Petra looks somewhere between mad she keeps being interrupted and delighted that is her daughter doing it. 

“I found her in Fort Saint James, she was working gathering intel from the battlefield. For Buttonwood. I don’t think Swythe knew-”

“Hold on” now is Anacostia who interrupts, her eyes turn to Alder “You gave Fort Saint James to Buttonwood”

Alder nods “I did, yes. I shut down Section 5 and put her in charge of the fort, figured such power would settle her down”

“Well it didn’t. Marion told me Buttonwood was working on something and she had proof. She was meeting with civilian contractors from the tech sector, and Marion got transcripts from arranged deployments and special assignments in key divisions. When I returned to Fort Salem I started taking precautions” Petra’s eyes are on her and her voice softens just in the slightest “When Alder put me in charge of the new spies I made sure to leave one team aside. When Buttonwood asked why, I lied an said it was a suicide squad, to send on the specially hard missions. I put Marion on that team, Scylla too. I explain to them that they would be deployed almost permanently, she and I had agreed that it was better for her to stay away. Marion, just like all of my agents understood that the risk of their job was worth the lives we saved. Our children. She knew that she was never going to see her kid again, but she still decided to do her job”

“That’s true” Scylla hates to admit it, but Marion was always the most dedicated of them all. She worked the hardest, going above and beyond to get the info and protect the team “But why did we get sold out to the Camarilla?”

Petra sighs and throws the folder she’s been holding all this time on the table “Because they discover Mariom was part of it. When she got me the transcripts to prove what she was saying Buttonwood knew it was her. And Susan has always been too much of a coward to kill in cold blood. When she and Swythe forced Willa to give away her agents, she added Marion to the list knowing it would get to me, probably thinking that as a Swythe hating Bellweather I'd sent her to die. I convinced them I had, except they kept coming back from missions and then despite my attempts at keeping Section 5 away, they found a way in. In Lieutenant Ashford"

"How does Ashford fit in?" is Raelle who asks, lifting her hand over her head. Even if they're talking about serious matters, Scylla can't help but think it's cute.

“Through her mother and sister” Petra replies calmly, she has that expression Scylla seen once or twice before, she’s putting the pieces in their places in her head. “Head fixer and her second in Fort Saint James under General Buttonwood. Marion said they were close. And I saw them, they were"

"That was the pass to the Western Campaign. All troops moving west had to go through Fort Saint James” Tally points out "The Camarilla were stronger in the west. Many died just weeks out-"

“The fighting club" Alder cuts her off. She's speaking out loud, but not to them "That’s how they covered it. They were testing the linkers” 

All eyes are suddenly on the former general. 

“Excuse me?” Scylla’s had surprises in the last few days, but fighting club? It feels like they’re stepping into the unknown dimension. 

The answer surprisingly comes from Abigail, who nods along as if it were obvious, Tally and Raelle nod too “It was a whole thing. Rae was there first, shortly after Anacostia was sent to replace Buttonwood, and then Tal and I joined her. Everyone talked about it”

Scylla doesn't believe her. She was in Fort Saint James for weeks around the same time as Raelle and never heard of it.

Anacostia rolls her eyes, a tired expression in her face “One hell of a mess it was! And she packed up and left. I got to the base and everything was chaos. Everyone going on and on about an underground fighting club. And there was the records of the infirmary to confirm it. It got to the point where I had too forbid the matter to be spoken about all together"

Gerit and Izadora speak at the same time "The fixers files"

Gerit goes to bring the boxes and passes the files around "There were all types of injuries. Many died as a result. After the first fifty deaths the cause starts being filed F.C. I thought maybe it was a fixer term, but maybe it's fighting club"

He keeps passing the folders around. There are so many. How did this go under everyone's noses? 

"What happened to the Ashfords?" she asks as she reads their signatures at the end of every log entry. 

They all look around, no one seems to want to answer.

"A bomb. It was on the plane flying them here" Raelle tells her quietly.

"Buttonwood was suppose to be in it" Petra picks up where Raelle left of "She had something come up last minute"

"She killed them?" Tally asks, is not disbelief in her voice, they've all seen enough death already, but there is something else to her voice that Scylla picks up.

"She had motive" Petra points out "If Alder is right, and the files here certainly suggest it, the Ashfords were the only ones besides Buttonwood who knew about the linkers being tested on our troops. Marion only had suspicions, and Buttonwood got rid of her too"

Scylla hates how much sense it makes. She also hates the fact that Buttonwood truly seems to have thought of everything. She wants to know more. How did exactly her team end up in a trap? Was it Ashford? Petra certainly seemed to suggest it, but was it by choice or through the linker? And how many linkers are out there? If they implanted one in every soldier and agent going west then-.

"So, basically she could have an army controlled by linkers, right? Its-"

Wick cuts her off standing up "That's enough. I've heard enough. So neutrality is obviously not going to cut it” she crosses her arms over her chest, she’s not very commandig and its kind of upsetting  this is the Genera of the Army, when Alder set the bar so fucking high “We will have Lieutenant Swythe’s funeral at the end of the week, given her close relationship to General Swythe, Buttonwood will show up. Now I propose the generals and I, along with former General Alder and Willa, plan how to move forward” she turns to the rest of them “You all have already done more than the Army can thank you for, from this moment on you’re all on leave. I will see you at the funeral. The Cravens of course can stay, but I cannot allow you take part, as civilians you must remain distanced, as much as possible anyways. That is all”

Scylla is not the only one surprised by Wick’s decision. But even if only interim, Wick is the General of the Army and they can’t do but obey. For now at least. She still doesn’t trust half the generals, and she is not the only one of the looks Wick’s receiving are any indication. 

But they were dismissed. So she follows along for now, helping Raelle stand and they walk out of the room. Abigail walks next to them in silence but her body language is anything but. 

  
  
  


"That was a lot" Raelle let's go of Scylla and lies in bed staring at the ceiling.

She agrees. It was a lot. And she's mad about so many things. Wick, for once, might have had good intentions benching them, but Buttonwood won't stop coming after them just cause they're on an indefinite leave. 

Well at least they're on sort of a vacation.

"Let's not get into that tonight" that would be a good start.

It's the right thing to say, Raelle smiles at her and takes her hand tugging until Scylla lies in bed next to her. She takes her chin softy with a hand, the other caresses her jaw. 

"Okay" she kisses her playfully. 

Scylla breaks it quickly "That's enough action for you, Captain"

Raelle grunts but doesn’t make another move. They lie side by side in a comforting silence. It's easy and light. It's the closest she'll feel to peace until this whole mess is over.

“So you kissed her?” she asks suddenly and Raelle laughs, nodding slowly. 

“Harding was comin’ y'know? And we needed a distraction, so I kissed her ” Raelle explains, she smiles but her eyes are carefully observing her for any reaction to her words “She knew ‘bout Ashford and the others, so it made sense I’d go for her next in a way, I guess? Harding bought it. And then I freaked out when Harding was gone, and she helped me. She was annoying and obnoxious, but she was kind”

Scylla knows she was all that, and it hurts “Yeah, worst spy I’ve ever met. But she was a good person”

“Hey" Raelle's face lights up. "I kissed her and I definitely kissed you. That’s two for two on spies my momma send my way that I kissed”

Scylla laughs “Louise would’ve loved that”

"Yeah" her words are filled with fondness and she looks like she wants to say more, but a soft knock on the door cuts her off "That's Abi and Tally. I ask 'em to come"

She'd ask why but Raelle shouts "Come in!" and not a second later the other two witches walk in.

Abigail rolls her eyes at them, she's biting her tongue on some sassy remark and Scylla won’t have it today.

"Out with it. What is it, Bellweather?"

"Nothing, just… if you called us here to makes us watch you two make out, then I'm out of here" 

Raelle is the first one to laugh, she very weakly throws a pillow in her sisters direction, but the projectile doesn't even leave the bed. Tally helps her out, slapping Abigail's arm with a grin.

"We have watched you make out with people too many times for you to use that tone on us!" 

Abigail rolls her eyes at her sisters "What? I'm hot and single, sue me!" 

Give it to these three to make any situation lighter.

"I didn't call you here to indulge you in your voyeuristic ways Bellweather. I thought we could do somethin’ to...remember who we've lost"

With some fumblings she stands up from the bed and opens the drawer on her desk. She turns back with a white candle and a twig of some dried herb, the whole thing looks familiar.

Tally and Abigail know exactly what to do and they help Raelle arrange the things and sit in a circle, leaving a space for Scylla. And suddenly she remembers her first day of basic training. It was one of the few things Necro did like the rest of their basic class.

This is one of those weird Fort Salem traditions where words or orders come into your mind and it feels a lot like a violation of privacy. Except this time there is no voice or guiding hands inside their minds. Is silent. Silence is good. They go around the circle.

"Libba" Abigail begins and she sighs resigned as she throws a leaf into the flame "She was all that was wrong with the world, yet it has felt emptier since she's been gone"

"Glory" is a whisper, barely audible. Tally is already crying as she throws a leaf aswell “She was far too good and kind. Her joy was contagious, she might have not been a fixer, but she saved my life so many times”

It's her turn now and she doesn’t know what to say. Or rather she has a hard time choosing. But it's calm suddenly, they’re all linked together and their slow breathing helps her calm down.

Tally passes her the twig and she picks three leafs to throws in the flame.

“My team. Ruby, Nat and...Marion” it's the first time she says their names out loud and it doesn’t hurt half as much as she thought it would. Everyone's eyes are filled with understanding “They were my family. We went through some tough stuff together and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. I miss them everyday”

“Louise” Raelle smiles lightly as she lets go of the leaf. It's odd, but surprisingly fitting “I hated her for the most time, but when it mattered she had my back. She was annoying and always looking for a chance to get up to no good. I will miss that. I will miss her”

They all share a look, before repeating the words they know by heart. 

“For those who dwell the earth, for those who gave their lives. For those, we remember”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys I wasn't sure I was gonna make it but I couldn't sleep last night so here we are y'all!! You can thank my africa and asia history class for stealing my sleep away...  
> In other news we're getting closer to the end, I for one, can't believe I made it this far, but you all kept reading and leaving lovely comments so i kept coming back so thank you, I love you all 🥰  
> Enjoy and have a good weekend!!

The stay up long into the night. 

And what starts with a passing comment she makes to Abigail ends up in a night filled with stories. Some she knows, and some she doesn’t. She enjoys them all the same.

This is how they remember. And it warms her heart to know one day she too will be remembered like this. 

Gerit joins them after he comes to see what Tally is up to, and even though he starts shyly, soon enough he too is laughing and sharing stories. He looks better than earlier too, which is good. 

As the night goes on she gets tired. Her eyes are heavy with sleep, but she refuses to succumb. Scylla holds her close against her chest. She kissed her once and Abigail caught them. She rolled her eyes so hard Raelle’s not sure they’re back to normal yet. 

Tally was too busy speaking with Gerit in hushed tones to come to her aid. 

This is good. 

After so much that’s happened, she can do good and easy. 

After Abigail, Tally and Gerit leave for their own rooms, Scylla insists on helping her to bed before changing into her pajamas and joining her.

“What happens tomorrow?” she finds herself asking, searching Scylla’s eyes in the darkened room. She finds her hand instead and holds it. 

“What do you mean tomorrow?” Scylla asks, she uses their joined hands to urge her closer and throws an arm over her waist. 

“We’re on leave now, until Wick says so. Even if they wanted, Anacostia and Izadora can’ tell us anythin’ ‘bout what they’re gonna do with Buttonwood. We’re out”

Scylla doesn’t say anything for a long minute. She’s tense when she speaks “I’m not ready to give up”

Yeah. No one is. 

“Me neither, but-” she stops herself from saying they can’t. Is more like they shouldn’t “We should be careful, Scyl”

Scylla kisses her forehead, she can feel her smile on her skin “Yeah, we should. Goodnight, Rae”

“Goodnight”

  
  
  


She wakes up early. The sun is barely setting in the sky when she opens her eyes. But she remembers almost immediately they’re supposed to be on leave so there’s really no reason why she should be out of bed. 

She happily relaxes back in bed, into Scylla’s arms. 

When she wakes up again is because Scylla is awake in that restless kind of way that makes her jittery. 

“Mornin’” she gets ahold of Scylla, throwing her hand over her waist to get her to stop moving and opens her eyes to catch the other girl smiling sheepishly. 

“Sorry”

“ ‘s okay” 

Scylla nods slowly, taking the time to relax. 

It’s odd to have time like this. It’s odd to have time at all. But they have it now, even if it is under these circumstances. Even if they don’t know for how long. 

“This is weird,” Scylla says after a couple minutes. 

Raelle smiles. She’s been doing nothing but lying down for the better part of the last two weeks, but having Scylla next to her certainly feels nice “Good weird?”

Scylla grins, her eyes shine and she is really the most beautiful woman Raelle’s ever seen. 

“Right. Sexy weird” Raelle remembers “What you wanna do today?”

“I kind of want to, uh, well for once I would love to stay here with you, no bells, no duty or interruptions, but-”

“It can wait” she cuts her off, she understands what Scylla is trying to say, and she feels exactly the same way “I can wait. I want to be with you like this forever, but forever can start when we’re done with this”

“Yeah?” 

She nods, unsure of how to say what she wants to. Scylla waits, is like she knows Raelle is trying to piece together her thoughts.

“Let’s take it slow, yeah?” she ends up saying. 

Scylla kisses her softly and nods “In the spirit of taking this slow, let’s go see what’s for breakfast?”

They find Abigail in the kitchen staring at her coffee cup, she smiles weakly when she sees them approach her. 

“Good morning, you two” she turns to pick mugs from the shelf “I’m giving you tea, Rae”

She sits down in one of the chairs and accepts the mug of tea from her sister. Scylla pours herself coffee before joining them. 

“Anacostia left a note to make ourselves breakfast, they’ll come over for lunch” Abigail passes them the piece of paper, a boring expression on her face “They had a meeting with Wick. The Cravens are still asleep”

Raelle bites her toast, looking between her sister and her...Scylla. 

“So about this leave thing” she begins quietly, it gets their attention immediately “Its-”

“Bulshit” Abigail cuts her off “I still can’t believe they pulled that shit on us. We did all the work, we should see this through”

“I’m not giving up. Louise’s funeral is going to be in two days and Buttonwood will be here. Swythe and Ashford are still in the house, I say we get information from them and make some moves of our own” Scylla sounds like she’s been thinking about this or a while, and maybe that’s what had her so jittery this morning. 

But she makes a good point. They’ve been screwed over by the generals more than once. And maybe Anacostia and Izadora are on their side, but when Wick gave the order they didn’t defy her. 

“Yeah, well I’m done playing by their rules” Abigail puts her mug down, she looks determined “I’m in. Let’s end the bitch”

And now they’re looking at her, waiting for her answer. 

She’s gonna say yes. Of course she is in. But she’s worried about Tally, and Gerit too. About the future, and what it will look like for them if they go through with this. 

Scylla nudges her side with a small smile “We’re only in trouble if we get caught, right?”

"And we can always run away. Change our names and start new lives in the caribbean" Abigail sits back in her chair with a playful smile.

Not reassuring at all “I’m in”

Scylla looks relieved she said yes, even though she told her before that she was in. She stands up, Raelle can tell she already making moves in her head, playing out all the possible scenarios in her mind “I’ll take Swythe” 

Tally clears her throat behind them “Take Swythe where?” 

Oh shit. Tally has that look on her eyes, it's the same level of determination they have to end Buttonwood, but instead she’s trying to figure out what they’re planning.

“I’m in,” Gerit says from behind her, and Tally’s eyes go wide as she turns to see her husband who just agreed to offing his own mother. 

“You don’t know what they’re talking about” she’s pulling all the stops, hands on her hips, back tense and that voice she only uses when she’s really after something. It always gets Raelle to reveal all her secrets. 

Gerit puts a hand on her shoulder, trying to ease her, and it works? When she’s more calmed he turns to them “It’s about my mom, right? You’re going to stop her. I want in” his voice doesn’t waver, and he stands there as if to prove he is not going anywhere "This is important, this...family. Tally and me, and all of you too"

“Gerit, when we say stop her” Scylla’s struggling to get this one out. She chooses her words carefully “We mean it. We need to be committed to do whatever it takes to end this”

They’ll kill her if it comes to it. That’s what Scylla is saying. 

They are right back to casually talking treason over breakfast. 

“I know” he sits down, his head bow down “I’ve been thinking this over for a while. Since Tally told me about the party. I thought I knew my mom, you know? Growing up she was away a lot and when she was home, I guess I chose to remember the happy times cause there were only so many. But I’ve been thinking about when I was a kid and...maybe she was always this person, and she’s been hurting people all this time. She needs to stop”

Tally puts a hand on his shoulder and he turns to meet her in a hug.

It feels like they’re intruding in a moment that should be private. It's weird to see Gerit like this. But he seems honest in his intent to stop his mom. So there’s that. 

When they break apart, he cleans his tears away and Tally turns to them, looking determined too “We’re in. But, you guys, this has to be the last time”

Abigail nods “Of course, Tal. I promise”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep to me Bellweather” her voice cracks half way, overwhelmed by the emotions running through all of them. Tally always been far too empathetic. 

“Hug?” Raelle asks, and Tally laughs through her tears. 

“Yes, hug. Come here, the two of you”

Now Scylla and Gerit must feel like they’re the ones interrupting, but she doesn’t care. She’s always felt safer when with her sisters. 

Tally let’s them go quickly, right after Abigail begins complaining about her back and not being as young as they used to. 

When they have all calmed down, they sit down and have breakfast. It's a lot less weird than she imagined. They decide to go through with Scylla's idea to talk with Swythe and Ashford and see what they can get from them.

“I'll take Swythe with Scylla” Tally looks over to Scylla who doesn’t seem all too happy, but nods. 

“Raelle and I will take Ashford,” Abigail decides for her. And Raelle has mixed feelings about seeing the lieutenant, but maybe it won’t be the worst. Maybe talking with her will help her make sense of what’s happened. How Grace killed Louise. 

Gerit’s left to look for something to do, but he doesn’t seem too worried. When asked about it he answers immediately. Yeah, he’s definitely been thinking about this for a while too “General Wick’s files are still here I’ll go over them again, see if I can get a number or an aproximation of how many witches could have a linker” he explains, and he almost seems excited for the prospect of spending the rest of the morning going over piles of old fixers files. 

Raelle has read them, written some herself. They really are not as fun and exciting as everyone here seems to think they are. She doesn’t tell him that though. Let him find out for himself.

With the beginning of a plan forming, they start moving. Scylla and Tally are the first to leave. Scylla seems eager to get some time with the general, and Raele trusts Tally will be able to keep the situation from escalating. After helping Gerit carry the boxes to the living room, Abigail leads her where Ashford’s being kept. 

She stops before the door “So, treason again huh?” 

Raelle has known Abigail long enough to see through her bullshit, and her attempts at playing cool. And treason, one way or another, it's really been their whole thing since they got to D.C. It's been Raelle’s thing since she got in the army. But right now Abigail looks a lot like the girl she was back in basic, scared to break the rules and bring shame to her family. 

“The things we do for family, right?”

It's her own attempt at playing it off. It's also her way of reminding Abigail that they are family too, and no matter what Petra and the Bellewathers say, she’ll always have a place in this family. 

Abigail smiles, shakes her a head a bit and opens the door. 

Unlike General Swythe, Ashford’s being kept in a room. It's the small one on the back of the stairs, but a room nonetheless. When they walk in she’s sitting on the bed, her hands are free, but she has a chain around her ankle keeping her from escaping. A more modern looking version of the collar Buttonwood put on them is on her neck.

“The latest from the scientist at Fort Salem” Abigail explains when she catches her looking, then she points to the chain on her feet “And that’s some old Fort Salem for old times sakes”

“Are you going to let me go now?” the lieutenant asks. 

She doesn’t look like much of a threat now, but Raelle remembers her commanding two wind columns that keept Abigail and Petra busy for long enough. She remembers the knife on Louise’s chest too. 

Abigail waits for her to speak. So apparently she’ll be leading this one. 

“Not yet. I, we… we need you to explain what happened yesterday-”

“What happened yesterday? You all keep saying that something happened, but no one will explain to me!” she speaks to the two of them, but her eyes are only on Raelle. She calms down before speaking again, seeming to understand that she won’t get much out of them like this “What happened Raelle?”

Is a low blow. To call her by her name and not her rank or surname. She knows this is an official matter, even if she is being held at a place that is definitely not Fort Salem. She makes this personal bringing up their past, however short it might have been, and it throws Raelle off. 

It throws her off because despite her dislike for her shitty fake-rebellious attitude, she cares about Grace. And the lieutenant knows that. 

Abigail has no such qualms. 

“Let’s stick to Captain and Major from now on, Lieutenant” she orders, and edge to her voice.

And Ashford is smart enough to know not to play with Abigail Bellweather, she looks down “Yes, ma’am”

“Excellent. Now what do you remember about yesterday?” Abigail has decided to take this inquiry on her hands, and Raelle is happy to sit back and watch this unfold. 

“I have already told you I don't remember anything after being ordered to fetch some files from the archive by my C.O, Major” she adds the rank in the end with just a bit of sarcasm. There’s that hint of rebelliousness that call to her back then “And since you do, maybe we can make this on short and you can tell me”

Before Abigail can give Ashford some well chosen words, Raelle jumps in. Something about what Ashford says reminds her of something else.

She said she didn’t remember anything. 

In her time as a fixer in the western front she spent her days in the infirmary, and from time to time she’d hear stories from passing soldiers lying on their cots. And a common one was soldiers forgetting whole days without explanations. The chief fixer on camp always told her and all the fixers to tell the soldiers it was because of battle and stress, but that wasn’t true. 

On one occasion it had been three soldiers stealing a vehicle in the middle of the night and driving it off fifty miles into the middle of nowhere. They were found unconcious a day later and taken to the infirmary. She had been around while they were interrogated and she remembers them insisting they couldn’t remember stealing the vehicle. 

And with Petra saying Buttonwood and the Ashfords tested the linkers on Fort Saint James on the troops being moved towards the Western Campaign, it makes her wonder if Grace’s mom would put a linker on her own daughter. 

But then again, the bits she heard from Grace herself, her mother was a very intense and curious woman. So it isn’t too far-fetched to imagine that the older Ashford would put it on her daughter if Buttonwood refused to tell her what they were testing. 

And if she wants go in deeper, Grace has a scar that could be the linker. Raelle hadn't ask about it when she found it, she was otherwise occupyied, but she knows its there. 

“Grace, has it ever happened before?” 

Ashford seems lost in thought for a minute, and then slowly she nods. 

“When?” she keeps her questioning, and Abigail remains quiet, obviously interested by where this is going.

“About six monts ago, right before General Bellweather kicked me out of Intelligence”

Abigail’s eyes are wide when she turns to her. She’s reached the same conclusion. Scylla’s team. Petra said Section 5 infiltrated Intelligence with Lieutenant Ashford. It was her. Ahshford gave Scylla’s team the wrong orders. 

“Fuck”

“What?" Ashford asks looking confused “Raelle, what is going on?”

"We need to speak with the others" Abigail grabs her hand dragging her out of the room before she can do something stupid.

Gerit is in the dinner table surrounded by files, and he looks up when they walk in. 

“Tally and Scylla are still with Swythe. Learn anything from Grace?” he asks curiously. 

“She's telling the truth. She doesn't know she killed Louise” she replies quietly. Still trying to wrap her head around it. 

“That’s terrible. We have to tell her” Gerit looks between them as if looking for something on their expressions “Right?”

Abigail doesn’t seem very sure of how to proceed, and to be honest Raelle doesn’t know either.

“I mean, she doesn’ remember it” she doesn’t know what she expects them to say, but it shouldn’t surprise her that both of them nod in understanding adter a minute.

Scylla and Tally walk in just then, and everyone is thankful for the interruption because that conversation was going to go nowhere good. 

“How did it go with Ashford?” Tally asks as she sits down, she moves a loose strand of hair away from her face with a slow movement. She looks exhausted. 

Raelle’s eyes follow Scylla around as she takes the longest path to sit next to her. She has that deep in thought expression that is so damn hot.

So they got something out of the general.

“I’ve gone through almost all the files” Gerit feels the silence almost naturally, he passes a few files around “I looked for all cases with "f.c" as in fight club, as the cause of the injuries. The ones who survived after arriving at the infirmary, I counted 438. That’s the approximate amount of people we know have linkers”

438 witches. That is a lot more than the five of them. And it's all the people Buttonwood has to put between them and herself. 

“That is only the ones we know of” Scylla points out “Then there’s Raelle, and Ashford too, if she has one. There could be more out there”

She has a point. And Raelle loves Scylla, and she’ll get back to that revelation in a minute, but she’d love it if she could not be so smart that she fucks up whatever little safety net Raelle was building for herself. 

“Okay, let’s say that Buttonwood has anywhere between 300 and 1000 people to play dolls with” Abigail brings her attention back to the matter at hand by making eveeything worse too “It makes no difference, we don’t stand a chance”

They can’t afford to think like that. It's already bad enough that they have to do this themselves if they wanna see it get done, she doesn’t need to know they might fail and die horrible deaths. 

“Swythe gave us a list of Buttonwood’s closest people” Tally looks at Scylla as she speaks, something in her tone feels like she’s saying, not thanks to you, “And ironically enough they’re all either dead or in the basement. Colonel Harding, Colonel Ashford and General Swythe herself”

So she’s alone. With her 400 witches army. 

“She’s replaced the witches with free will and minds of their own for mindless robots she can control like puppets” Scylla’s tone is dry, like she’s done with this shit, and honestly they all are. 

Abigail clears her throat “Great, Rae and I don’t have great news either” she looks at Raelle, giving her the chance to figure out how to say this.

“Ashford doesn’ know she killed Louise, she says she doesn’ remember and it's not the first time it’s happened” she tries to think of how to make this less worse than it is, than it will be for Scylla. In the end she realizes it's probably for the best to do it in private first, the others will understand when they learn why “Scyl, can you come to our room with me for a minute?”

Scylla clearly doesn’t understand what is happening, but she follows. Abigail gives her a single nod as they walk away, and hopefully that means she’ll explain to Tally and Gerit. 

In their room Scylla closes the door behind them and looks nervously everywhere but at her. 

“Come sit with me” Raelle pats the space in the bed next to her, and after a minute Scylla follows. 

“What’s going on? You’re acting strange” 

Raelle takes her hand, interlacing their finger together and trying to find some strength to speak the words she’s so scared to say.

“It's about Grace. And ‘bout you too” she begins, and she’s probably making this way more confusing than it needs to be, but she doesn’t know how else to do this other than making it up as she goes “She can’t remember killin’ Louise. In my time as a fixer in the west I saw this more often that we would’ve liked. We couldn’t explain it then, but I think that with everything we know now I can. It's the linkers, when they ‘re used to take control over a witch’s body, they can’t remember it, ‘cause it wasn’ them who did it. Does that make sense?”

Scylla nods, still confused by everything “Rae, I still don’t-”

“Let me finish” or she might never do it. “Killin’ Louise is not the only thing she can’t remember, there’s another day she’s forgot ‘bout. About seven months ago, the day before she was kicked out of Intelligence by Petra”

Raelle can see the moment Scylla understands what she’s implying. And the minute after that, is the longest in all of time. Scylla doesn’t move, she’s still, like if she was made of crystal and Raelle doesn’t know what to do. 

And then Scylla is shaking, all the walls she’s always putting up fall apart in an instant. Raelle is there to catch her. 

She struggles just a bit, but she manages to get them both to lie in the bed. Scylla's head rests on her shoulder, her breath is shaky as she cries quietly. Raelle holds her close. She wishes she knew what to say, but there is nothing that will fix this.

In all the time they've known each other, she's only seen Scylla cry a handful of times. In the dungeon of Fort Salem when she turned her back on them and broke both their hearts. 

In the fields outside the same fort half a year later. It was raining and Scylla tried to explain herself. Raelle was too heartbroken over seeing her mother alive, and too overwhelmed by the realization that she still loved Scylla to hear her. Both of them were crying when she walked away.

Years later in Beltane they both cried again. That time it was different, the tears were not of sadness, it was relief and joy of having found their home after so long. 

The last time she saw Scylla cry was when she woke up after the linker incident. Those were happy tears too. 

This right now, it feels different. 

Raelle remembers Scylla before the war, she knew that Scylla. And now after the war, in the last month, Raelle has seen the way in which she is still the same idealistic girl who betrayed her beliefs for her, ‘cause she loved her. She’s seen the ways in which Scylla has changed too. At first the thought it was the war, it changed them all. But Scylla’s pain felt somewhat different, she carried it close to her heart, tried to hide it away from anyone who got close. 

Scylla was always guarded, her past was hard, and there was stigma over being a dodger. She hide those things to make herself be seen stronger. This time, Raelle had a feeling she was hiding her pain to remain strong, not to fall apart. The more she learned and the more he saw, she knew she was right. 

And this thing with Buttonwood has grown bigger than anything none of them could have imagined. It has become personal for them one way or another. It was supposed to be about doing the right thing and it slowly morphed into a personal battle. And Scylla who had never met Buttonwood before that night on the airport, she’s got the worst of them all. 

Raelle kisses her forehead softly, threading her hand in Scylla's hair. She’s searching her brian for what to say, a way to put everything she feels into words, but every word she thinks of feels hollow when faced with the immensity of what has transpired. 

"Thanks for not telling me in front of everyone," Scylla says after a while. She hides her face in Raelle’s neck, bringing them even closer together. 

"Of course. I always want you to feel safe with me" she says it without thinking, and she can immediately feel Scylla’s smile on her skin. 

"I do” Scylla whispers. 

"Good"

Scylla sighs, relaxing. She scrunches up her nose when Raelle's short hair tickles her. A second later she can feel the smile against her skin again, this time followed by a small kiss.

She has a lot to think, and Raelle happily holds her close while she processes, it's all she can do.

"So Ashford has a linker? 

The question surprises her, but she answers "I think so. She has a scar on her neck, is right behind her left ear. A stray Camarilla projectile she said" 

Scylla rolls her eyes. Raelle can tell there’s a snarky comment at the tip of the tongue about how she knows that, and she's happy Scylla is keeping quiet. She really doesnt wanna talk about Ashford right now.

“I want to visit their graves” 

Raelle just barely makes out the words being whispered “Maybe I can go with you”

Scylla moves just so Raelle can see the small smile when she nods “I’d like that”

A knock on the door breaks away their bubble, and Abigail walks in after a very respectful and long minute "Hey, just wanted to let you guys know, Anacostia and Izadora are about to come back. We helped gerit put the boxes back in place so they won't know we touch them. We're making lunch"

“We’ll be down in a minute” Scylla’s face is neutral, despite her red eyes and Abigail does an excellent job at pretending she can’t see it. 

“Okay, I'll pretend I believe you cousin” she closes the door behind herself. 

Raelle watches from the bed as Scylla pulls herself back together before they go back to meet the others. She remains quiet, enjoying this odd moment of peace, taking advantage of the chance to see this beautiful woman as she goes about her routine. She brushes her hair, and Raelle follows every movement with her full attention, when she changes her shirt and ties up her shoelaces. 

She’s transfixed by every move, every murmurs to come out from those lovely lips. 

“Rae” Scylla sounds like this isn’t the first time she’s called her, and Raelle grins, before standing up. 

“Sorry” she joins Scylla by the mirror.

Scylla turns with a sweet smile, and from this close Raelle can see the vulnerability still clear, hiding just beneath the surface of her beautiful eyes and her smile. 

“You don’t have to hide from them, y'know?” she asks before she can stop herself. 

“I know” Scylla passes her a chain with a small shell charm “Help me?”

Raelle allows the distraction. It feels wrong to fight her about this when there are so many more things to worry about. Scylla turns and she clasps the necklace. She lets her hands fall, but doesn’t move. 

Scylla smiles in the reflection and turns around her, throwing her arms over her shoulders “Whatever happens, Rae, I will always be glad I found you again”

“Don’ talk like that” 

“Just this once” Scylla promises, a solemn expression to her face “I want you to know that I love you, I always have, Raelle. There’s no one in the world for me but you”

“I love you, Scyl” she whispers, bringing Scylla closer by her waist. She wanted to say it first, but this is perfecr in its own kind of way “And will love you a little bit more when this is over, so don’ go doin’ stupid shit, ‘kay? I have plans for us”

Scylla's smile grows “Yeah?”

Raelle nods, kissing her softly. She takes her hand in a rush “C’mon now, they're waitin' for us”

“Okay, but I want us to get back to this later” 

And they will. Nothing will stop Raelle from this conversation. They are gonna build a future together and she’s not sure how it will look beyond it being in a beach somewhere. But it feels closer somehow. The peace and calm her heart’s been searching for so long, it feels only a step away. She’ll have Scylla with her and they will be happy and okay.

They will be okay. 

  
  
  


Downstairs they join the other cooking lunch. Raelle only briefly, soon enough she’s pushed away along with Gerit. Scylla is apparently still salvageable. But she and Gerit are lost causes and not to be left alone in the kitchen. 

“I can make tea,” Gerit replies to Abigail's last comment regarding their shitty culinary skills. 

“If you hadn’t married my sister-” Abigail doesn’t finish, it's all playful banter and the knife she’s wielding in his direction is not meant to be taken as a threat, but just in case Gerit quiets down. And the three witches return to their cooking. 

Raelle would happily stay in this comfortable silence forever. But she tells herself this will come later and pushes through. 

“So where are we on a plan?” she asks cautiously. 

There’s a moment of silence followed by everyone throwing in their forming plans. Raelle doesn’t pick much over the noise of all their voices meshing together. 

“Okay, okay!” she uses her command voice to quiet them down “One at a time, please. Tal?”

“Gerit and I were talking, and we think we should use him” Tally explains, and Gerit nods across the table from Raelle “Buttonwood will stay away from us, but not Gerit”

Abigail takes the silence as her excuse to start telling her plan “The linker. Izadora took Rae’s to Fort Salem, but if Ashford has one we can take it out and put it on Buttonwood. Then we’ll be able to control her and we make her quit her position as secretary. After that she can rot in prison”

Scylla doesn’t jump at the chance to tell her plan, there’s something dark in her eyes. Like she plotting a murder. 

But she isn’t. 

Probably. 

“Scyl?”

Scylla looks up, shaking whatever though she was having away “Yeah, I, uh, think we should put those plans together. We use Gerit as bait, find a way to get the linker on her and… use it to stop her. I’ve been thinking about the people she can control though, we need to stop them too. She’ll probably come ready for an attack”

“How do we stop a 400 witches army?” she asks, but she has a feeling Scylla’s already thought of an answer. 

“With a witchbomb”

Everyone starts shouting again, she can make out their voices but she doesn't know what they say. She can only stare open mouthed at Scylla.

To be fair, Scylla looks like she regrets her words. And eventually everyone quiets down just enough for Scylla to explain.

"Hear me out, as long as she has control over those people, how many they might be, she will be unstopable" she turns off the stove and turns fully to them "Harding is gone, Swythe is in the basement, Gerit is with us. She is alone right now, this is when we strike and we need to do it efficiently. The key to that is to get rid of her army and we can't go one by one taking them out. A witchbomb can take them all out at once, or at least all the ones on Louise's funeral"

Once again she makes perfect sense. Its so annoying that she'd hate her if she didn't love her.

"And I'll be with you" Scylla adds just for her "I promise"

Raelle knows Scylla means it. 

And this is the best chance at getting Buttonwood before she can get back on her feet. 

They have to strike now.

"Okay. Let's do this"


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can y'all believe we're on chapter 20 already?? I can't. And you guys, we're in the final chapters!   
> And if y'all have read my other stories y'know I always inted to write a slow burn every time, so I might be working on something new....  
> Anyways, enjoy the chapter and have a great weekend!

So this isn't what she had in mind for how the day would end this morning.

But then again, her life always tended to go sideways.

Still, running blind around the woods was not her brightest idea.

To be fair, though, she wasn't thinking clearly. It was 3 a.m and they were very rudely awakened from their peaceful slumber by those three dreadful words.

"Ashford is gone"

Raelle was still in bed when Scylla left, running like a mad woman down the stairs and shouting for a lantern.

A lantern she received at the foot of the stairs by a very pissed off looking Izadora.

She was out the door before anyone could stop her, and that’s how she learned it was raining.

Great. 

But despite the rain she caught sight of a figure running towards the woods. 

Ashford. 

And she followed, like a hunter after its prey.

It wasn't Ashford she was after, but rather the one behind the lieutenants sudden escape plan.

It had to be Buttonwood. She was certain. 

And so now she isn’t lost per se, but if asked to find her way out she might be in trouble. Still Scylla's never been one to be so easily deterred. She is going to get Ashford. And then they're gonna have a talk.

After that Raelle is probably going to kill her.

Was it not a couple hours ago that she promised not to go running into shit?

Oh the turntables.

The woods get darker the more she walks, she knows she’ll eventually come to the fort. But that is all she knows, it's her and Ashford and all the expanse of woods between the house and Fort Salem. 

And it's raining. 

Goddess. 

She’s tired, soaking wet and in a very bad mood. 

Buttonwood, and Ashford, have something else coming. 

Well, in a perfect world they’d come to her.

That gives her an idea. 

Buttonwood hates her. So if she is the one controling Ashford, and not the liuetentant being stupid, all Scylla has to do is taunt her and the witch will show up. 

“Buttonwood!” she stops walking and sits down under a tree, laughing to herself thinking of the face the fucker will have when she hears her “Buttonwood, you coward, show your face!”

Scylla waits but nothing happens. Maybe Buttonwood can’t hear her over the pouring rain. But she’s not about to climb a fucking tree. 

She should have waited for backup. But there’s nothing she can do about it now.

“C’mon, Susan! It's rude to keep a girl waiting!” she can’t hear anything in the rain, and it occurs to her that if Buttonwood is listening she could come up from behind. 

This is one of those occasions where she kind wishes she could see like Tally. In any other scenario, being a Necro rocks. 

Give her a knife and she can get going. And lucky for her, she always keeps a knife around. 

A knife and a lantern, that’s all she has.

But just like the last time she’s fed up with the bitch, and if given the chance she’s going to get creative with her methods. 

“Come on out Susan, we didn’t finish our last talk!” 

She sits back down and sighs. 

This was a bad idea. 

It's probably going to backfire so hard. Good thing she's got herself a charming Cession fixer. 

Meanwhile though, she waits. It's weird that none else showed up yet. She was sure they’d come right behind her. 

"Buttonwood, you bitch! I'm going to beat you up!" she’s starting to grow restless so she stands up again, walks in circles around the same four trees “Never finished with your knee ca-”

She hits the forest floor with a grunt, air kicked right out of her. She shakes it off and rolls over. When she stands up again, she gets a good look at her attacker. 

“You couldn’t even land a punch last time so you went and got yourself a puppet” she chuckles “Where are you right now Susan? Are you sitting on your butt behind some desk? I think you are”

“I’m going to enjoy killing you, Ramshorn” 

It's so weird to hear those words come out of Ashford’s mouth. Scylla decides to ignore it, she needs her head on the game ‘cause it hits her suddenly that the last time she beat up the real Buttonwood. Now the bitch is using Ashford’s body. 

This time they’re even. 

Ashford is young, younger than Scylla. And she can fight. Scylla remembers when they met in the hotel with Harding. Ashford had been ready to attack and had it not been for Raelle having already fought with her and knowing how to stop her, the situation might have ended up very different. 

She’s about to learn how well she remembers her two week training from five years ago. 

Yay. 

Ashford attacks first, throwing herself in her direction with surprising speed that Scylla just barely jumps out of the way. So that is Buttonwood’s method right there.

Okay. Scylla can work with that. She lets her take the first hit, planning to take her by surprise, but damn Ashford is strong. She hits her right in the jaw and there goes her plan. 

Fuck. 

  
  
  


So jaw punches hurt like a bitch. 

She’s unconscious for long enough that when she wakes up she’s tied up to the tree. 

So about five minutes, maybe? It's okay, it didn’t wound her ego or anything. She’s over it. Moving forward to a new plan. 

But fuck, she didn’t see that coming. 

How did she go so wrong?

Ashford is looking pretty smug. 

And to be fair, if it were the other way around, Scylla would be too. 

“Let’s have that chat you wanted” the lieutenant sits down in front of her, and this might be Ashford’s body but the one Scylla’s facing is Buttonwood. There’s no doubt about it as she smiles wickedly “I make the questions. What did you do to Harding?”

Scylla thinks over her options, even though she knows Buttonwood’s not big on patience. On the one hand she can comply, tell her what she wants and pray for mercy. Counterpoint though, Scylla’s not one to beg and Buttonwood hates her just a bit too much. The second option is her go to, play her, mock her just the right amount, pray to the goddess that this family everyone keeps talking about comes to find her before she gets her ass kicked by her nemesis. 

“Who’s Harding?” 

Ashford’s face contorts in anger “You’re not stupid, Ramshorn, and neither am I. What did you do to her?”

Scylla chuckles “I wouldn’t never guess you were the type to care for your minions, Susan”

She doesn’t have the greatest light here, the moonlight is just barely piercing through the trees and the rain really adds insult to injury. But even without Tally’s sight and under these dire conditions, she can feel the change in the air, the sudden silence rises up the tension.

What now?

Is she going to be wind-striked into oblivion? Or worse? What is the reason behind Buttonwood's silence? It's starting to get to her the longer it goes on, it makes her uneasy.

A strong hand gets a hold of her coat and pulls her up, the rope digging painfully against her skin.

"Say, where did you get the rope?" she asks with a smirk, forcing herself not to show the pain she’s feeling. 

Ashford gets close enough that if Scylla tried she could probably see Buttonwood in her eyes, all he way back in D.C behind her stupid desk.

But she doesn't look, instead she headbuts the lieutenant that goes stagering back until she falls on her ass. 

Hell yeah. This party isn’t over. 

Before Ashford has a chance to recover, Scylla is already working on cutting the rope with her lucky knife.

By the time the lieutenant is up again, Scylla is cleaning the dirt from her pants. She looks up, smug like an asshole “Oh hey there, while you were otherwise occupied, I went ahead and let myself go. Hope you don’t mind”

And she minds, goddess does she mind. Ashford let’s out a terrifying yell and charges towards her just fast enough that Scylla can’t run from it.

For fucks sake. 

Not a minute after running from it, she finds herself pinned against the tree. Again. 

And it doesn’t hurt her ego. She’s perfectly fine. 

“Where is Harding?” the lieutenant asks through gritted teeth. 

“Dead” she enjoys the way Ashford’s face shows Buttonwood’s surprise. The sadness that comes a second later surprises her. She pushes through her own surprise fueled by her anger and hate for this woman “Like Louise, and my team”

The silence is yet another surprise of the night. She expects anger and maybe a punch or two, a good ole throw around. But she gets silence instead and it unsettles her. She can work with violence, but with silence...it's much harder to plan for what you don’t know. 

And indeed she doesn’t see it coming. 

One minute she’s pinned to the tree by her coat and the next the same strong hand is grabbing her neck, harshly pushing her harder into the tree. Her hands fight for purchase as panic sets in, and the hold on her neck tightens. 

Where the fuck is Raelle? Where is the family she was convinced she had?

Scylla laughs in the face of these predicaments, what else is she to do? But laughing, it's a terrible idea. She chokes on the last bits of air in her lungs, and it's not as threatening an image as what she would have liked.

Buttonwood picks up on that “You look like you need air”

“Fu...Fuck you” she adds a smile to spite her, and every bit of her hurts.

“I thought you were going to kick my ass, Ramshorn” Ashford’s face contorts into a painfully looking wide smile “What happened to that?”

“Oh I’m... going to” is painfully obvious to everyone that she isn’t, but she’ll be the last to admit defeat. If only she could see a way.

Her hands finally find purchase and she makes an unexpected discovery. 

Ashford still has the collar on. She can’t use Work. 

And if Scylla had known that ahead she wouldn’t be here right now. She just needs a way to get air, soon. 

Scylla tries to focus on that stupid hand to hand combat class Petra made all spies take. They had taught them how to break away from a grip like this, but she can’t by the goddess remember what it was. With every passing second it's becoming harder to focus. 

“Did you kill her?” Ashford shakes to get her to comply.

She stops herself from asking who, it's Harding obviously. But Scylla’s been busy trying to find a way out of this predicament to keep up with the chit-chat. 

“I can’t...breathe” she huffs out instead of answering, her words scrambled together and hopefully Buttonwood got that.

That she’s getting no answer until Scylla gets air. 

Ashford’s hand releases her neck and Scylla very ungracefully hits the ground. 

“Now!”

She recognizes Abigail’s voice and uses her last bits of strength to roll out of the way and right into a pair of arms she knows all too well.

A loud whoosh echoes through the forest and Ashford flies away somewhere wind striked by Abigail.

“We’ll pick her up” Abigail quickly walks away followed by Tally. 

Scylla is left to face Raelle’s wrath alone. 

“Hi”

Raelle shakes her head, eyes filled with concern “Why ’re you like this, Scyl?”

“I’m sorry” and she meant it. The worry is evident in Raelle as she carefully examines her in search for injuries. Scylla cradles her face in one hand to get her attention “Hey, I’m sorry”

“Let’s hold this conversation for later” Raelle shrugs it off, but Scylla knows it's not over “Are you injured?”

She shakes her head “Nothing bad, but I’ll have some bruises tomorrow”

“ ‘kay” Raelle helps her stand up, her eyes already trained on their surroundings “We have to wait for Abi and Tally”

She wants to say more, but she doesn’t want to upset her. And if she opens her mouth she’s probably going to apologize again. Raelle doesn’t seem to be in the mood for that conversation. 

“Why are we waiting for them?” she asks, despite everything in her saying to remain quiet. 

Raelle sighs tiredly “ ‘cause that’s what teams do, Scylla”

Fuck. Keep quiet, she tells herself. 

“Got her!” Abigail is once again her saving grace, she and Tally come into view carrying the unconscious lieutenant. 

“Let’s get her back in her chains before she wakes up” Scylla checks she’s still knocked out, they really don’t need any more surprises “She wasn’t Ashford when she attacked me, it was Buttonwood again”

“You should have waited for back up” Abigail is understandably pissed, but it's more than that “We didn’t know where you went off to, we were worried you asshole!”

Tally nods, but doesn’t say anything, choosing to help put Ashford down on the ground. 

“I’m sorry” she repeats her earlier words, but this time is not just for Raelle, it is for all of them “I wasn’t thinking, I knew it was Buttonwood and I just ran after her. I couldn’t let her get away”

She hopes they understand. This is personal to all of them one way or another, but it feels bigger for her, more fresh. 

It feels like she won’t have peace until it's over. And she really, really needs peace. 

Raelle squeezes her hand, and Scylla looks at her hoping to get some reassurance that they’re okay, but finds her focus on the lieutenant on the ground. 

“Tal, how much time do you think Gerit can buy us?” Raelle keeps her eyes away from her, but she’s still holding her hand and Scylla forces herself to relax.

They will get through this. She needs to believe it. 

“Maybe ten minutes. He really isn’t good under pressure, Rae” Tally is already kneeling on the ground searching her bag for something. 

Abigail joins her, using a lantern to help her. 

“Okay, so let’s say we have five” Raelle turns to her “Can I have your knife, please?”

Scylla struggles to see her expression in the dark. She wants to know what they’re planning “Yeah, here” 

Raelle takes the knife and helps her support herself against the tree. 

“What are you doing?” she asks after a long minute of silence. 

The three witches are around Ashford, so she can’t see anything but the shadows of their movement magnified by the lantern's light. 

She gets no answer, other than more silence and a few mumbled curses. 

And so she let’s go of the tree and falls to the ground with a grunt.

“Fuck, Scylla!” Raelle turns, but Abigail forces her back to what she's doing. 

“Not the best timing, Necro” Abigail comes to help her sit down “Please stop being a dick”

“What are you doing to Ashford?” she asks again, and she gets a hold of Abigail’s arm gripping it tightly. 

Abigail pulls her arm free harshly “We’re removing the linker”

That is crazy. They could kill her. She tries to move past Abigail, to do something. But once again she finds resistance.

“Look Scylla, you’re obviously not very good at following plans that aren’t your own” Abigail says as she grips her shoulders holding her in place “But I thought at least you’d trust us”

That’s fair. Scylla stops fighting and Abigail can tell she got through her so she sits down next to her. 

“You told Rae how Alder helped you wake her up. We figured if we could knock her out it was our chance to get the linker off her and for us” Abigail explains calmy “It's why we took so long to get here. Gerit convinced Anacostia and Izadora to go in the other direction to cover more ground. They’ll get here eventually, so you interrupting is not very helpful”

Scylla sighs “I’m an asshole, then huh? Go help them, I’ll behave”

Abigail chuckles “Okay. But you're in the doghouse, cousin. Thread carefully”

Her words sound like a warning, and like they’re about more than just this matter with Ashford. Scylla’s eyes fall on Raelle’s back. 

She’s focused on her task, giving indications here and there to get her sisters where she needs them. 

Scylla follows every movement she makes with awe. Raelle really is a sight to behold in everything she does. But just now Scylla realizes she’s never actually seen her work since they were in Fort Salem. 

Raelle has certainly grown into her potential. She’s precise and calm, careful in her movements. Right here she’s a whole other level of beautiful. 

Hopefully she didn’t fuck this up. She just told her she loved her, it can’t be over.

Raelle’s just angry, understandably so. But she still loves her. 

If only it could be morning already. And she could wake up with this beautiful woman in her arms, and be okay. 

But nothing is ever simple. Scylla has always been an impulsive person. It was always something good, with the Spree, in the war, all her adult life it was something she was commended for. And now, it's her downfall every single time.

It's hard to shake off all the things she had to become to survive. Scylla spent the better part of her life in fight or flight mode, and losing everything she had and loved. So, yeah, it's hard to trust what she can’t control. 

Raelle puts a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. When she looks up she finds her eyes filled with a softness she doesn't think she deserves right now. 

“Hey” Raelle’s fingers softly caress her cheek “We have the linker. We’ll wake ‘er up and head back to the house. I’m gonna check ya up when we get there, yeah?”

Scylla nods, she has so much to say. All the words are at the tip of her tongue, but she holds them in. Not now. 

She wants to intervene when it's Raelle who links with Ashford to wake her up. But she forces herself to remain quiet. She trusts her, trusts Abigail and Tally to stop her if she goes too far. 

It's hard though. She’s on edge the whole time, still catching her breath from the fight, but ready to jump in if needed. 

She doesn’t have to. Tally stays next to Raelle the whole time and taps her shoulder to get her to break the link. Raelle stops immediately, and she seems to be fine. 

“I’m okay” Raelle reads the worry in her eyes and smiles softly, offering her hand for Scylla to take “C’mon, let’s go back”

Scylla takes the offered hand “I’m fine, I promise. Are you sure you’re fine though? You are still recovering, Rae”

Raelle shakes off her concerns “I’m fine. Let’s go back”

Ashford is still out, but now she seems to be just asleep. That’s good. 

They walk back to the house in silence. 

Gerit and the generals are still out, and after putting Ashford back in her room Tally and Abigail decide to go find them. 

“You two stay back” Abigail orders as she picks her coat again. Even on leave she’ll never stop being their superior apparently.

Scylla doesn’t feel strong enough to fight her, nor does she want to. 

“You guys can go back to bed” Tally offers a bit softer than her sister, she squeezes Raelle’s hand as she passes by “We’ll be back soon”

When the door closes behind them Raelle sighs “Ashford’s safe and chained up in her room, so...let’s go check you up”

She seems committed to her plan of action, maybe a little bit too much. Scylla nods, allowing her to take control of the situation, and follows her upstairs. 

Inside the room Raelle walks around looking for something and Scylla closes the door behind them and sits on the bed. She follows Raelle’s movements to distract herself. She does that a lot lately, follows Raelle with her eyes, she enjoys the way she can see her in moments no one else can. It feels special. 

Raelle walks back to bed carrying a few items with her that she drops as soon as she sits down. Her hands move to Scylla’s shirt but they stop before reaching their destination.

“Take your shirt off, please"

In any other scenario she'd answer that with some smartass comment and they’d laugh. She takes her coat and shirt off instead, she carefully puts them in the bed with a nervous gesture. She doesn’t dare look up. Raelle feels...distant, and she doesn’t want to see that distance in her eyes too. 

Raelle’s hands are cold, but her touch is careful. And Scylla doesn’t like feeling like she’s walking on eggshells but that's exactly how she feels. She wants to say something to make everything okay but she's not sure such a word exists.

“Let me fix ya up” Raelle pleads with her, her voice soft but worried and Scylla can’t help herself and looks up. 

Raelle’s eyes are trained in the forming bruises in her jaw and neck. 

“They look worse than they feel” she tries to reassure her, her voice cracking not for the pain, but emotion. She’s on the verge of completely falling apart here. “You’re still healing. No way I’m letting you take my bruises too”

“I wanna make you feel better” Raelle’s voice cracks too, and she looks away from the bruises to Scylla’s eyes. 

“You already are, I promise” Scylla reaches out, and finds no opposition. She holds her close “Let’s get to bed, yeah? I’m sure Anacostia and Izadora will have questions in the morning”

Raelle nods against her chest “Okay, but I’m not done with this. I’m tired right now, and worried. I’ll be mad in the morning”

Scylla smiles, relieved that she can still hold her like this “Yeah, you can be all the mad you want with me tomorrow, but tonight I want to sleep with you next to me”

“Me too”

  
  
  


As promised Raelle is mad in the morning. All the worry of last night has dissipated, leaving her angry and hurt. And she’s not saying it out loud, she’s quiet in that angry way that is unsettling. 

Scylla doesn’t quiet know how to take it. For once she’s exhausted and in pain. She’s also never been too good at talking things out, and she understands where she went wrong and how Raelle is right to be mad. But it's way too early in the morning to be getting the cold shoulder from the woman she loves. 

“Rae, c’mon! I’m sorry I was a fool last night but can you please come back to bed?”

Raelle sits down at the foot of the bed, frown still in place “You were a fool, and an asshole too”

Okay, that’s fair. But does she have a point?

“I was so worried when I got down stairs and you were gone,” Raelle explains softly, and Scylla already wants to reach out, but she doesn’t. She knows her hand will be slapped away and she’ll be on the receiving end of a death glare. 

She does cut in though, “I’m sorry I hurt you”

“Hurt me? Scylla you could’ve died! She could have killed you!” Raelle throws her hands in the air standing up again “Did you think of that when you ran off like that? Cause the first thing I saw in the forest was you bein' choked by Ashford, and she didn' seem very inclined to let go"

Truth is she didn’t think of any of that. She saw Ashford running away with their only chance at getting Buttonwood and knew she had to stop her. 

And after everything they’ve been through Raelle deserves the truth “No, I didn’t. We might hate it, Raelle, but we’re soldiers, we do what needs to be done”

“We’re a family” Raelle throws the words at her like knives, but there is a softness in her eyes. She’s definitely angry, but there’s more, it seems as if she needs Scylla to understand “We’re a family, Scylla, we trust each other, and we have each other's back”

“I know-”

“I asked you to be careful” Raelle cuts her off. She looks more calmed “I asked you not to run into shit like that. We keep talkin’ ‘bout what we’ll do when this is over, and you go and almost get killed by Buttonwood''

“I’m sorry, okay?” she crosses the bed and hugs Raelle tightly, happy to not be rejected “I love you. So fucking much, Rae. I can’t wait for this to be over ‘cause I want all those things we said. I want a lot of things with you" she searches Raelle’s eyes, needing to know she believes her “I’ll do better, I promise”

She doesn’t need an answer. Raelle doesn’t give her one. And they stay like that, tangled in each other for a long while. 

Anacostia knocks on their door sometime later to let them know she’s up and wants their help with breakfast, and only then do they break apart. 

She winces when Raelle’s arm hits her side. 

“Let me help you” Raelle asks for the second time, and Scylla nods. She got herself a charming Cession fixer for a reason. 

The ointment Raelle begins slowly rubbing over her bruises it's cold and she shudders. 

“Sorry” Raelle whispers, and when she notices Scylla has relaxed with her words she keeps talking “My momma taught me how to make it when I was a kid. It’ll numb the pain, so you feel better. I think Anacostia is gonna have tons of questions ‘bout last night”

“How...exciting” Raelle’s touch feels heavenly and she sighs, feeling more relaxed than she has in a while “She's going to kill us. But if it hurts, maybe you can rub me more of this”

Raelle rolls her eyes with a playful smile “Don’ be gettin’ funny thoughts. I’m still angry with you”

“I can work with that” 

The movement of Raelle’s hands across her skin comes to halt, she's grinning “Let’s go help Anacostia with breakfast”

“That’s not a no, though” she takes Raelle’s offered hand to stand up “I will remember this”

Raelle shakes her head, quickly changing out of her pajamas. She stops with a hand on the doorknob “I…” she turns around slowly, and she seems to be having one million thoughs in that very second “I love you, Scylla”

Scylla smiles. Raelle is mad, but she loves her. 

She can deal with that. 

“I love you too”

Raelle grins and walks out of the room. When the door closes, Scylla smiles too. She’s happy. 

It feels like such a crazy thought that she needs to say it again. 

She’s happy. She really is happy.

  
  
  


Anacostia is silent all throughout breakfast. And no one dares to speak. 

All in all, it's a very not-relaxing start to the day. 

She reminds herself they have the linker now, that the plan is underway. There’s still the matter of the witchbomb and the funeral being literally tomorrow. 

They are working on a tight schedule. But Raelle very subtly takes her hand and smiles. 

“Stop worryin’” she mouths. 

And she tries to stop worrying, but it is much harder to do than she imagined. 

When they are done with breakfast, Abigail is the first one up and she makes the very deliberate decision to let everyone know she’ll be in her room doing some reading. 

One by one they all start leaving. Anacostia glares at everyone of them, individually, before peaking her coat and leaving for Fort Salem. 

She’s mad. It's so very obvious, and Scylla wonders why she didn’t say anything to them. 

Izadora calls her before she too can excuse herself to join the other in Abigail’s room to discuss the rest of the plan. 

“I need your assistance” the general explains simply. 

“My assistance with what?” 

Izadora begins walking, expecting her to follow “We have to pick the uniforms from the drycleaners, for tomorrow”

For Louise’s funeral. As if she could forget. 

They get in the car and the general waits for her to put on the seatbelt before starting the car “I thought you’d want to know, there’s no speaker for the funeral yet”

Scylla is surprised by this news “But she was a Swythe. I thought High Atlantics would be dying to give an eulogy”

Izadora shakes her head “Look I don’t pretend to understand high atlantics, but I think she was always seen as an outsider within their circles. And with news of her aunt’s work in the war slowly spreading, Swythes have fallen out of everyone’s graces”

“So what? No one will speak for her?” she can’t believe it. 

“I was hoping you would,” Izadora says casually.

“I...I don't-"

"Just think about it" 

How could she not ? It's Louise. And it's not fair that there’s no one to talk at her funeral. 

“And on another note” Izadora calls her attention “Willa checked on Ashford earlier this morning. There was no linker”

This is a test. It has to be. Okay. She was a spy, she can do this “No? That’s weird”

Izadora chuckles, actually chuckles at her “Yeah, I guess it is. There was a small cut on her neck, though. Seemed fresh”

“Yeah, well, we were fighting in the forest in the dark, Izadora. I got some bruises too” she plays it down, but somehow it feels worthless. The general seems to know it's them. 

“I do hope you are well, despite your bruises” Izadora seems to be enjoying making her go through this whole thing “If you had done, or plan on doing something that you were told not to do, I think Anacostia would be pretty pissed. Might kick your ass”

Scylla sighs. So she knows “You know”

“Know what?” Izadora looks away from the ride to her for a second and winks. 

Oh for fucks sake “Right”

“Damn right, I know nothing my wife doesn’t know” Izadora scolds her, almost mother like. When she looks at Scylla again at a red light, she seems softer somehow “I know you're not going to stop. Just be careful"

"What if we can’t be?"

Izadora thinks over her answer, and starts the car again “Then be smart”

Be smart. Now what does that mean?

“I believe in you, Ramshorn” Izadora tells her with an oddly soft smile. 

“You do?”

“Yeah, I do. I know you’ll get it right” she assures her with a smile “You know, uh, whatever it is you need to get right”

This time Scylla laughs, and after a second Izadora joins her. This whole talk is too much to be taken seriously. 

“Thank you, for, uh, the talk. And for not saying anything”

The general nods, returning her attention to the road. 

“If Anacostia knew I knew then we’d both be in the doghouse” she adds like an afterthought.

Scylla’s eyes are immediately on her “Oh goddess, what else do you know?”

Izadora gives her a wicked smile “We’re here” she points to the drycleaners with her index finger “C’mon. I need you to help me carry the uniforms”

Scylla rolls her eyes but follows after the general. 

What a fucking day. And week, month too. 

Somehow she feels reassured Izadora knows, and it's okay with it. 

This plan is too big for just the five of them. What they’re trying to do feels like a monumental task. Is something everyone should be helping with. She doesn’t know what Wick and the generals are planning, but by Izadora’s excitement at the idea of them doing something, it must be a shitty plan. 

Wick seems like a fan of paperwork, and it would explain Anacostia’s sour mood if her plan was something like trying to get Buttonwood arrested for not doing her paperwork appropriately or something. 

And they’re living in such dangerous times. Will they really get peace when Buttonwood is out? Or is that just a fantasy they tell themselves to keep fighting?

The answer scares her. She holds onto the picture in her mind of the house on the beach, of Raelle’s smile and the boring lives they’ll have, and she focuses on that and that only. 

She’s going to fight for that future. They will fight, all of them. 

And they will win.    
  



	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back and only a day late!  
> Hope you like it, have a good weel everyone!

“Are you nervous?”

Scylla checks her notes again and sighs. Nervous doesn’t begin to cover it. 

“Are you?”

Raelle still needs to figure out the witchbomb, and in an ideal world she’d have time to do that. But they’re working on a tight schedule, they ran out of options a long time ago. 

“I’d feel more confident if everythin’ didn’ depend on me nailin’ it, and it's only been like six or so years since I did it” Raelle chuckles “Not on purpose, mind you”

Well at least they have a sense of humor. Even if it's a coping mechanism. 

Izadora comes to a stop next to them, clearing her throat “It’s time”

A quick look around the open space where the funeral is being held proves her point. The rows of seats are filled with witches in blue and brown uniforms, waiting for the service to begin. 

Izadora leaves to join the other generals, and Abigail takes her place. 

“There’s no sign of her” she’s talking about Buttonwood of course. Their whole plan depends on the witch showing up “She should be here. Gerit tried calling, but no luck”

Scylla shakes her head, trying to calm down “She’ll show up”

It’s all about ego for Buttonwood. They have beat her in three instances already, she won’t rest until they’re all dead. 

Abigail nods, already moving to take her place next to Tally in the first row “Okay. I’ll keep an eye in case she shows up. Good luck, cousin”

“I should go too,” Raelle says, but makes no actual move to leave. “We’ll be okay, Scyl”

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah” Raelle gives her small smile “One step at a time. You go make Louise proud with your kickass eulogy and I’ll be thinkin’ ‘bout how hot you look while you do that”

Scylla chuckles “Is it the blue of the uniform?”

“It does bring up your eyes” Raelle leans in, softly caressing her jaw “I have the prettiest girlfriend”

This is not the time to be grinning like a fucking fool cause Raelle called her girlfriend. But she has that effect on her. 

Goddess, whatever Louise is right now she’s probably laughing her ass off. 

“Does this mean you’re not angry with me anymore?” 

Raelle chuckles “It doesn’ mean anythin’ much. Just that I love you, and I wanna keep you”

“Nothing much, okay” they should move already, the service is going to start in a second and Izadora will kill her if she misses her cue. But Scylla thinks Louise would approve of them having this moment on her day “I want to keep you too”

“It's settled then, don’ go bein’ a fool now Ramshorn. You’re mine”

With those final words, Raelle turns and walks away to join her friends and mother in the first row and Scylla picks her pace when she catches sight of Izadora. 

“I said it's time, and you decide to have a heart to heart with Collar?” the general shakes her head like a very disapproving parent “Stay still now. Wick will call you when it's your turn”

General Wick gives a short speech, it's her first funeral as General of the Army and she seems to be trying to make it not be her only one too. Alder speaks next, brief and to the point. Every speech of hers that Scylla had to hear was like that, but if you’ve had three hundred years of practice then you should be good at it. 

“-the eulogy, Sergeant Scylla Ramshorn”

She missed what went right before her name, but by the soft push forward she receives from Izadora she guesses that’s her cue. 

When she reaches the podium she takes a deep breath. She looks briefly to her right, where Louise photo looks back at her, along with her scourge and the folded flag that no one has stood to receive. 

It feels wrong. 

Scylla opens her mouth, speech already memorized and ready to be delivered, but no words come out. She spots Buttonwood walking towards them from the fort. She looks determined. 

Something in her eyes must give her off, because Abigail and Raelle are on their feets and following her line of sight. 

It takes a second for her to realize why the rest of the people aren’t moving. 

They can’t. 

She turns around, and finds the generals are frozen in place. 

The only people moving are Raele, Abigail and Tally. To her left she catches Willa and Alder talking in a hurry.

Immediately she runs to meet Raelle and Abigail. Buttonwood is getting closer. They need to come up with a plan, and they need to do it quickly. 

“I really wanted to hear your speech” Abigail says as soon as she’s within earshot. There’s the humor as a coping mechanism again.

“If the Goddess is on our side, cousin, you will hear it” she promises. 

Abigail nods, something solemn to her face “Yeah, okay. Let’s fight this bitch. Tal?”

The three of them turn to Tally, who bend over Gerit’s side. He’s still, his face frozen on his usual chirpy smile. 

“Something’s up with him, guys” she half whispers, eyes and hands never leaving her husband. 

Buttonwood is worryingly close and they need to move. But if Raelle was the one frozen, Scylla doesn’t think she’d want to leave her either.

“We’ll fix this, Tal” Raelle puts a hand on Tally’s arm “But we need to move”

Tally nods and let’s go of him. She caresses his cheek with a hand “I love you, Gerit. I’ll come back for you”

Scylla takes a step back, giving her some privacy and Abigail and Raelle follow. Tally joins them a minute later, cleaning her tears with the handkerchief from Gerit’s suit jacket. 

“What’s the plan?” she asks, her voice is hoarse but she pulls through “Please, just tell me what to do”

The plan has failed them once again. With no Gerit there’s no safe way to approach Buttonwood, at least not for now. They have to run, and regroup. 

She looks between their reduced numbers and recognizes the same expression on their faces. They know it too. 

As Buttonwood quickly approaches, Scylla gives one last look to the frozen figures of Anacostia and Izadora, standing next to Wick. 

They are fine, she tells herself. For now, a voice speaks inside her head. And it's true, but she hates that she can’t shut it down. 

“Let’s go” Abigail speaks the words everyone already knows “There’s nothing for us to do here”

“No, hang on” Buttonwood has reached the final row of seats, and from there she shouts to get them to look her way. When they're looking she very deliberately pushes one of the frozen soldiers out of its chair to sit. 

It’s a young witch, maybe a War College cadet. Scylla watches it happen in slow motion, when she hits the ground, her body makes a resoundful crack as it breaks into pieces. 

It's such a senseless cruel act. It leaves her speechless, and to make it worse Buttonwood laughs.

“Fun trick, huh?” she asks, laughter still clear in her voice “Got to be careful about how we treat this guys”

She gets no answer and it seems to disappoint her, but Scylla has come to expect Buttonwood to monologue and to think cheers and claps should follow whatever comes out of her mouth. At this point it doesn’t surprise her when the older witch takes their stunned silence as her cue to keep talking. 

“I control them, and you know what's fun? They are conscious” she makes a pause, as if to let them take in the magnitude of what she did to the young witch under the light of this new information “I can do whatever I want with them. And I got to say, I’m tempted to show you. I don’t know, maybe I’ll make Quartermaine and L’Amara fight to death. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

The idea is quite terrifying, but none of them feels like giving Buttonwood a single ounce of satisfaction. Scylla feels Raelle’s hand slip into hers, a silent plea. She takes the hand with far more confidence than she feels, and Raelle sighs, relaxing just in the slightest. 

“Well you are no fun” Buttonwood sounds disappointed. She stands up walking around the pieces of the young witch. It's a gruesome show, and it's very fitting with the image she is going for “I’ll make it quick, I can tell you’re planning on running away”

She walks towards them purposeful and no one moves. Moving now would be conceding defeat. 

“Is just you and me now” Buttonwood gives them a wicked grin, eyes going to every one of them to emphasize her point “You, Craven, took my son from me, turned him against me. I will kill you first” she gets up and personal in their space, her eyes burn like fire on Tally face, a second after her threat has left her her mouth, she turns to Abigail with the same wild eyes “Bellweather, I simply don’t like you, and you mother will hurt so badly. I will enjoy that”

Abigail scoffs at her words, Scylla can tell it wounds her ego that her mother is the motive for which she will die in Buttonwood’s scenario. 

Buttonwood ignores her “Collar, you half-blood Cession trash, you were a fun toy to play with” 

Raelle grips her hand hard, and Scylla knows she’s fighting not to punch her square in the face. But they’re walking into unknown territory here. They were unprepared and Buttonwood has the upper hand this time. 

“But no witchbomb means I have no use for you” Buttonwood keeps talking, her eyes trained on Raelle with a look of disgust “And Ramshorn loves you, do you not?” she smiles wickedly when her eyes fall on Scylla “I will make you watch while I kill the witch you love Ramshorn. How many families will you have lost to me now?”

She’s being taunted and she won't fall for it. But she wishes she could hurt her. She will hurt her, she tells herself. 

Right now though, they just need to figure out what Buttonwood has planned for them. She’s in a good mood which can only mean one thing. 

She thinks she’s won. 

“Just get it over with, Susan” she forces herself to keep her voice leveled and her expression bored “Your speeches are boring”

Buttonwood always falls for Scylla’s words, it would be amusing if they weren’t at her mercy. 

“Oh it wouldn't be fun to do it right now. It's only saturday, no one will come to the fort until monday morning. We have time” she explains, the self satisfaction of having won drips of off every word “I’ll enjoy the hunt. Be good prays and run”

Well at least Buttonwood has not learned her lesson. 

Scylla remembers some time not long ago when she reached the conclusion that her cockiness and self assurance we're going to be Buttonwood's downfall. 

“Okay then” Abigail sounds unsure of how to proceed, but she puts on a facade of strength, crossing her arms over her chest “We’ll be leaving now”

Buttonwood looks between them with excited eyes.

Slowly they begin to walk away. Tally looks at Gerit’s frozen form and nods determined. 

As they retreat, never breaking eye contact with Buttonwood, Scylla manages to snatch Louise’s folded flag and scourge from the stand, leaving only her picture. 

They walk into the line of trees hoping it will keep them away from Buttonwood’s line of sight. They need to find a place to stop and work on a new plan of action with only the four of them. 

Abigail chooses the place, she stops abruptly and sits under a random tree. She kicks the dirt under her boot with a resigned sigh. 

They follow, sitting down on the cold ground. Scylla takes a deep breath, trying to wrap her mind around what just happened. It's a lot to take in. 

But if this is the people with whom she’ll fight for her survival, she’s happy it's them. 

Tally is the first one to speak. She has her head between her hands for the first few minutes, but she looks up eventually, clearing her throat to get their attention “What are we going to do now?”

“We’re not hiding” Abigail declares, she angrily rips the grass around her ”Buttonwood said no one’s coming until monday morning, we have time to turn this one back. So let’s stop wallowing and get to work”

It's the most inspiring speech they’ll get at the moment, so Scylla decides not to add anything. She simply nods.

“We need to find my mom” Raelle, who has remained quiet so far, says quietly, holding herself against the tree looking down, “I saw her with Alder when everyone froze. I don’t know where they went after Buttonwood came for us”

“Alder and your mom weren’t frozen?” Abigail asks and Raelle nods “So the frozen have linkers? Cause Buttonwood can’t have put one on either one of them, but I guess everyone else had to have their medical checks at some point or something”

Tally lets out a shaky breath as if she’s going to start crying again “I was supposed to check everyone for linkers after Raelle” she explains, making quick work of cleaning her tears. She seems determined not to cry “But everything happened so quickly after that, there was no time. It's my fault. We got Ashford, we could’ve gotten to Anacostia and Izadora too if I hadn’t forgotten”

Scylla puts a hand on her shoulder in what she hopes is a reassuring gesture “We’ll get to them Tally. One way or another. We’re a family right?”

The three witches nod, and Scylla smiles. Maybe she’s starting to get the hang of this. 

“They trust us to win this thing, so let’s do that” she hopes her speech is more confident than what she feels. 

Suddenly she’s being enveloped in a hug by Tally, with Raelle throwing her arms over them both a second later. Abigail rolls her eyes but joins them.

“I gave an inspiring speech first” she mutters under her breath. 

They all laugh. They shouldn’t. Nothing about this situation is funny. 

But it's somewhat cathartic to hold them close, and to be held by them too. It makes their bond feel more real in her heart. 

Like they really like her for her, and not because she’s with Raelle. 

They break apart and start walking again, this time with a mission. 

Find Alder and Willa. 

They’ll go from there. 

* * *

  
  


In the end it's Alder and Willa who find them. 

They’re walking near the walls of the fort, where the trees are thickest, talking in hushed voices so as to not call attention when Willa jumps in front of them.

"There you are" she says, her words come scrambled together and it's only because she knows her well that Scylla understands her. Willa smiles tiredly, holding her hands out as if asking for a minute to catch her breath.

"Where were you?" Raelle doesn't give her mother time, walking until they're face to face and shoving a finger on her shoulder "I saw you run off with Alder"

"Then you already know where I was kid" Willa puts a hand on her daughter's shoulder and turns her around "Let's go. Sarah has a safe place"

They follow Willa, because they don't really have a plan and the sun is beginning to set. They spot several of Buttonwood's linked army stationed around base, scourges ready for attack. 

They're careful not to make a sound, and Willa guides them past the Necro building, to a small passway hidden between the fort's outer wall and an arrangement of rocks and assorted plants.

It's there where they find her, anger written all over her face is Sarah Alder.

"You look young again" is Raelle who says it, but it's what everyone's thinking. 

Alder looks like her younger self again, and in answer to the question in everyone's mind she simply shrugs “I took two more biddies from Buttonwood army. I figured I’d be more useful this way”

It's the worst excuse ever to take over someone’s youth, but if she’s willing to fight they can go over the morals of her decision when this is over.

“We should move” Willa says, a pointed glare at Alder who moves to let her through. They move with a familiarity that Scylla knows she’s not the only one who picked it up.

“Where are we going?” Tally looks around the wall, like she’s trying to see through it, but can’t. 

“It's protected by some strong Work” Alder explains “Stop trying, Craven, you’ll only hurt yourself” but she offers Tally her hand, and when she takes it her eyes go wide. 

“Wow”

“Just open the door, Sarah” Willa complains, she looks up to the sky and sighs “Buttonwood is making it rain” 

Alder rolls her eyes at her, a shocking sight “You never knew how to enjoy the little things with me” she opens the hatch door and let’s them in. Through a set of stairs they end up in a small room only occupied by a chair and a very old looking cot. 

“Looks the same as last time” Willa mentions as she turns on the lights “Maybe redecorate next time, Sarah” she looks at the general over her shoulder.

“It never bother you before” Alder replies noncommittally.

“Before?” Raelle looks between her mother and Sarah Alder waiting for an explanation. 

“I have been here before, Raelle,” her mother says and adds nothing more. 

But Raelle is not the only one interested in this new information. Abigail chuckles, reading the odd tension between the two older witches “Why were you here together before?”

Willa opens her mouth to speak but no words come out. Alder meanwhile sits down in the chair with an air of dignity “We were lovers”

“What?” Raelle’s eyes are wide, confusion written very clearly on her face.

“Goddess, Sarah” Willa turs to Alder to whisper something harshly and then back to her daughter “We were discussing how to get rid of Section 5 and we needed privacy”

Raelle still has no answer to offer, but next to her Abigail is having too much fun “So did you discuss this matter on the chair or the cot?”

“Both” Alder replies just as Willa turns to her. 

“Just show them Sarah”

Alder rolls her eyes, a second time “As you please”

“This is the worst moment for you to have found your lost sense of humor Sarah” Willa berates the older general, as the two of them move to a secluded corner. 

“That’s a lot to take in” Scylla looks at Raelle, trying to read her expression “I’m sure they’ll explain better when we’re not being hunt down by Buttonwood and her zombie witches”

Raelle nods, too busy trying to wrap her mind around everything that has happened. Abigail seems to take pity on her, the grin on her lips is replaced by a neutral expression as she puts a hand over her sister's shoulder. 

“We’re going to be okay, shitbird. And then we’ll poke your mom and Alder for answers, yeah?”

Raelle nods again, slower this time. She seems to be slowly starting to process, but Abigail’s change of attitude helps. Raelle returns the embrace. 

A loud noise breaks them apart, and the four of them turn to find Willa and Aldee standing in a second room that was not there a minute ago. 

Okay so maybe Willa was telling the truth about needing privacy to speak about getting rid of Section 5. 

The second room is wider, with a big table in the center filled with dust covered papers and maps. More files cover a second table by the wall, and a blackboard with dates and places written in Willa’s handwriting hangs on over the table on the wall. 

“Why did you stop going after them?” Scylla finds herself asking, she looks away from the folder on the table and towards the two older witches. 

Willa looks away, something like guilt in her expression. 

Alder sighs, crossing her arms over her chest and keeping her eyes firmly away from Willa “She took the pardon offered by the government and took off. I was forced into retirement a short time later”

“You went back to the Cession with pop” Raelle clearifies, still reeling from Alder’s previous comment.

Willa nods. When she looks at Alder, Scylla can tell it is guilt in her eyes “I am sorry for that, Sarah”

Alder ignores her comment altogether, choosing to pick a file at random “I suppose you had a plan to get rid of Buttonwood. Since Wick ordered you to stay away from this matter”

Scylla has always been wary of Alder. And even though she looks different now, more relaxed and in touch with her mortal side, Scylla is still wary. 

As one should be when facing Sarah Alder.

“Why should we trust you?” she asks. 

This is the first time Alder doesn’t look affronted by her question. The former general shakes her head a bit, thinking over her words “That is for you to decide, Ramshorn. You and I may never see eye to eye, but Buttonwood is our common enemy. I will work with you to get rid of her. And go back to not liking you when it's over, deal?”

Scylla’s first reaction is to look at Abigail, Tally and Raelle for their opinion. She only notices she’s done it after they nod and she turns back to Alder “Deal”

Raelle takes her hand and squeezes softly. It makes her smile, but she hides it away for later and turns her face serious to face Alder. 

“We have a linker. We were going to use Gerit to get close enough to put it on her”

“And puppeteer her into quitting and turn herself in” Alder finishes for her “Wicked. I approve. But I suppose it's worthless now that Gerit is a popsicle-”

Tally flinches at her words, and Alder cuts herself off. 

“I am sorry Tally" she sounds honest "I know how hard it must be for you”

“Thank you”

Once the awkwardness passes they get to work. Scylla is not surprised to learn that Alder is bright, she has a mind like no other. They go over different scenarios and she points weaknesses and makes counterpoints for almost all of Abigail’s ideas. 

After what seems like hours of discussing their options and way too many sarcastic and snappy comments provided by Abigail, Scylla herself and Alder they manage to work out a battle plan. 

It's risky and bold. Scylla hopes it's the last one they have to make. They are counting on Raelle to use the witchbomb again, to get rid of the linked army without harming them, and Alder volunteers to help her work it out. 

Raelle seems completely against the idea, but after some pushing from her mother, and some pointed looks by her sisters she accepts the former general’s help. 

“We’ll begin after we have some dinner,” Alder says, at the same time that Willa speaks. 

“We should get some sleep. We’ll use the cover of the night for our attack”

“Dinner first” Alder agrees “Then training, and some sleep for you. I’ll keep guard”

“Where is the food?” Scylla asks curiously, and she expected many tricks from Alder, but she definitely did not expect her to turn her back on them and return a second later with fucking military food packages. 

The four of them collectively sigh and Willa passes the packages along “C’mon this will be over soon, and you can have real food then”

“I’ll even cook for you” Alder offers with a chuckle.

Abigail quirks an eyebrow incredulous, “You can cook?”

“I can cook, Major, I will not however, say it would be an enjoyable experience" 

Alder and Abigail keep exchanging comments, to Willa and Tally’s delight. Scylla pulls her package from the table and takes Raelle’s hand leading her back to the first room. 

Raelle looks between the chair and the cot, and ends up sitting on the floor, where Scylla joins her with a soft chuckle. 

She relaxes into the feel of Raelle’s head on her shoulder. It's the first time in hours that she feels calm. 

“Do you think Alder was tellin’ the truth?” Raelle asks in a whisper “ ‘bout my mom”

Scylla didn’t need the clarification, but it brings an adorable frown to Raelle’s forehead. 

“I never took Alder for a joker” she begins, looking carefully at Raelle in the dim light “But Willa seemed keen on her stance that it all a joke, so...I don’t know”

Raelle sighs tiredly, burying her head deeper into Scylla “Out of everythin’ that’s happened, this one I didn’ see comin’ “

“Why does it bother you so much if it were true?” Scylla asks, feeling curious. 

“I don’ know” Raelle opens her food package, rummaging through the contents to keep herself distracted more than with the intent of eating anything. “It's always been her and pop, y’know? It never occured to me that there could be anyone else”

Scylla understands. She understands because she can’t imagine anyone but Raelle for her. There’s been other people before and in between, but she has always known that if given the chance she’d come back to this. To Raelle and her childish smiles, the braids she loves to tangle her finger through and her arms. She’s never felt safer than she does in Raelle’s arms. 

“I mean surely there was other people” Raelle keeps rambling, and Scylla follows every word with rapt attention“I just...I don’ know, Scyl”

“I get it” she takes her hand to stop her from playing with her food "And I think that no matter what's the truth, you know your parents love each other. You told me your mother told you when you were recovering that your father was her home, Rae. So what does it matter what roads she took while they were apart, if she did get to him in the end?"

There's a question she's not asking here. But she thinks Raelle knows by the intensity with which she asks it that this is somehow impprtant to her.

Raelle pulls away from her just enough to see her face "You're right" she nods, seeming not all to happy about that "And I get it, when its you and me. I have Ashford and some others, and I'm sure you were with other people too. I don't care about them, I...its only you for me" she says softly, her eyes are shinning and Scylla leans in wanting to kiss her "But Alder? That's fucked up"

Scylla can't gelp but laugh, and she nods, their foreheads bumping together.

"That is true" she will give Raelle that much.

And Raelle seems happy, an honest smile playing on her lips "I love you"

"I love you too" they have said it so many times in the last couple of days and she can't help but smile everytime. 

Raelle grabs her chin to keep her in place "Be careful tomorrow"

"I will be" Scylla promisses “And you have fun with Alder”

She laughs at the groan that leaves her girlfriends lips, and then she smiles because she remembers they’re girlfriends now. 

Everything is falling into place. Her personal life is better than it's ever been. She knows her parents would be happy if they could see. They’d love Raelle, and it's heartbreaking that they never will meet her. But she’s committed not to lose this. 

She will not lose this. 

They fall asleep like that, tangled in eachothers arms, needing to feel closer now that the battle nears. 

Before the sun is out, she is awake. Everyone else is too. Raelle, after spending far too long saying goodbye to each other, is now in the other room working with Alder. Willa and Tally are there too, going over the map of Fort Salem on the table memorizing routes and where everyone will be. That leaves her with Abigail, who finished tying her laces and follows her up the stairs.

"How are you feeling about the plan?" Abigail asks her as they climb up. She looks as confident about it as Scylla feels. Which is not a lot. 

"Like I really want it to work" she answers truthfully and Abigail smiles, nodding like she agrees. 

"Yeah" something about the way she says it makes Scylla turn around. Abigail looks like there’s more she wants to say and it's debating whether or not she should do it. After a second of silence in which Scya reaches for the door Abigail speaks again "I'm worried about splitting up"

"Me too," Scylla admits. The idea of playing decoy for Buttonwood is not the most enticing, but it is what it is "I trust you to have my back though"

Abigail's smile is wide, like she’s proud of her or something. But she’s a Bellweather, so she won’t say a thing "Of course" she says like it's obvious, she pushes Scylla forward making her have to open the door "I'm going to give that bitch a reason for wanting me dead"

Scylla laughs. She knew Buttonwood's overlook of her had gotten her worked up. Maybe Abigail will join her in the category of people who kicked Buttonwood’s ass and lived to tell the story. 

Because they all will live to tell the story. 

"Let's get this over with. Once and for all" 

When she opens the door it's still dark outside but it's no longer raining. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around and Abigail hurries to make them invisible so they can begin moving. 

They walk slowly, they might be invisible to the naked eye but this is the one time where they have to be extra cautious. Still Abigail finds ways to get the conversation going "You know I still have to plan that party for Tally and Gerit"

Scylla wants to laugh but she doesn’t, she looks over her shoulder at Abigail and nods "Yeah and I'm overdue for a vacation, I'm thinking the beach"

"How do you feel about the Cravens and me crashin your beach vacation?" Abigail asks her with a mischievous grin. 

“Please don't”

“No, Scylla, I can see it. Party, then beach. It will be great” Abigail insists. 

“Shut up, cousin”

Abigail grins, but remains quiet. They stop at the edge of the clearing, looking at the buildings that make Fort Salem in the night light. 

“I never thought I’d hate this place” Abigail mutters, the humor that had been so clear in her voice before now gone. 

Scylla nods, but finds she can’t answer. Instead she throws her pack on the floor, hiding it behind some bushes and turns back to Abigail feeling the adrenaline of what they are about to do kicking in “Got the linker?”

“Right here” Abigail shows her the small box.

“Ok. Then let’s go”

“We’re going to kick butt, you and me cousin” is the last thing Abigail says as the two of them run into base, walking between the linked troops who remain unmoving. 

They find more and more troops the closer they get to Alder’s old office. And Scylla knows they’re going in the right direction. 

They stop in front of the office doors for no reason other than to feel the magnitude of what they’re about to do. 

“Ready?” she asks, maybe she wants to feel reassured. 

Abigail puts a hand on her shoulder “Ready”

Scylla nods and steps away. Abigail takes a deep breath focusing on letting go of Scylla without making herself visible. It must work because she disappears in an instant. 

Picking her lucky knife from her pocket she nods to herself.

Okay. Showtime. 

Scylla kicks the office doors open and smiles smugly at Buttonwood who jumps in surprise. 

“What-?” she begins, but Scylla cuts her off. 

“Hello, again, Susan”


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It me again, twice in a week but I have a good reason! And that reason is that I cut the last chapter into 2 and I wanna post the last one on saturday for old times sake :)  
> So anyways as usual hope you enjoy it and have a good rest of the week 
> 
> PS. This one goes w a special thanks to that one comment two chapter back who gave me an IDEA. You'll hate it, I love it. And I promise I'll come back on saturday for the last chapter!

“You are distracted” Alder notices, not for the first time. 

Raelle sighs, sitting down on the bench behind her. Alder comes to sit next to her but remains quiet. 

On the other corner of the room, Willa and Tally are buried underneath mountains of files and maps going over the details of the mission. 

“I’m worried ‘bout Scylla” is not a lie, but it's not the complete truth either. 

Alder nods “Of course, you love her. It's, uh, understandable. But we should keep working, you are no help to Ramshorn sitting here”

“Right. We need the witchbomb." she keeps her eyes firmly on Tally and her mom "Why did you tell me I could never control it if it was a lie?”

“It is not a lie, nor am I a liar, Collar” Alder’s voice sounds a lot like a warning, but Raelle still refuses to look her in the eye, so she can’t be certain “You are very emotional, I suppose it's your human side. It makes you powerful, but it also makes you unpredictable. Your power is worthless if you cannot control how you react to the things that happen. You could hurt people, hurt yourself. It would have been irresponsible of me to teach you like that”

Maybe in another situation she could try to understand what Alder is saying, but she’s angry and scared. Nothing is certain right now, except the need to punch the former general in her stupid face “Fuck you, Alder”

She stands up to walk away, but a firm hand on her arm stops her. 

“Let me go”

Alder seems unfazed by her reaction, “No”

She tries to shake the hand off, but Alder’s grip is tight and she stops trying. 

Alder seems happy she did “Now let us start over”

She knows the steps, the former general has repeated the same words over and over for hours now. 

Breath. Focus on the energy. Release it. 

Easy enough. 

There’s only one problem, they only have one shot. 

The energy of the witchbomb is too strong for Buttonwood not to notice it. 

“It's time” Tally tells them, she’s looking away from the mess on the table to the two of them “Abi made contact.They are in position"

This is the part of the plan that she’s scared for. They need to get the timing right or Buttonwood will have Scylla at her mercy. 

Tally notices her nervousness and walks to her, occupying the seat Alder just vacated.

Raelle breathes in and out a couple times, easing herself into the storm of emotions inside her own head. 

“Hey” Tally puts a hand on her shoulder, she looks nervous too “You got this, Rae”

“Yeah?” 

Tally laughs in that way only she can in the face of hardships “We’re never ready for the big scary moments. You just have to jump and hope it works”

It's not as reassuring as she had hoped.

“And I trust you to make the jump” Tally adds. 

So many people depend on her getting it right. Not just Scylla and Abigail, Gerit, Anacostia and Izadora too. The four of them here in the bunker. All of witchkind. 

If they lose here, if Buttonwood wins, all of witchkind looses and she can’t let that happen. 

She can’t let Louise’s death be for nothing. All the people before who died because of the selfishness of generals, because of power plays in which they were only pawns. 

“Okay. I’m ready” 

Tally hugs her, her strong arms wrapping around her with a certain hint of dessesperation that reminds her she’s not the only one putting everything on the line to make this work. 

She hugs her sister back, promises herself it won’t be the last one, and when they break apart she looks at Alder with determination. 

“I’m ready”

“Very well. Let’s go then” Alder nods once and moves to the other room, expecting her to follow. 

Willa stops her before she can do just that “Be careful out there, kid”

It's such a stupid thing to say, but its fitting. This is her mom, letting her go to a very plausible death if just one thing goes wrong. 

They’ve come so far since she visited her pop in the Cession and found her casually relaxing on the couch of her childhood home like she was never gone at all. 

She’s not angry anymore. That’s the big shift in their relationship. She’s let go of the past, and feels ready to embrace the future. Feels ready to build a future, and she wants her mom to be a part of it. 

“I’ll try” she promises, and her mother nods “You be careful too”

The hug they share is brief, but it soothes her. Just like when she was a kid, her mom’s arms around her calm her down. She relaxes into the familiar embrace, and when she let’s go she smiles softly. 

“I love you, momma”

“I love you too, kid”

Alder is waiting for her by the stairs and they climb up in silence. 

It's a windy night outside, but it will be day soon, they have to hurry. Alder steps are long and she moves quickly, letting Raelle to catch up while trying not to call the attention of the soldiers standing guard everywhere she looks.

“I got to say” Alder says out of nowhere, they’re quickly approaching the barracks, the shadows of the buildings can be seen between the trees when the wind blows through them “I have missed the challenges of the army. I don’t miss the paperwork or having to deal with stupid piliticians, but I do miss connecting with my sisters, protecting them

“This can be your chance to prove you still have it then” Raelle shrugs, and she bumps straight into Alder's back “Oh, you stopped walkin’ “

“I did” the former general notes with a smirk. 

“Why? We’re in a hurry, no?” 

Alder still doesn’t move. She seems to be trying to find the right words. 

“Collar, Raelle I-” Alder sighs tiredly.

“Is this ‘bout you and my mom?” she has an inkling it is. 

“Yes. I suppose we have to talk about it. Are you upset?”

Is she upset about it? The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes she’s mostly annoyed. But it's not upsetting per se. Her talk with Scylla last night certainly helped. 

“Well, no. I guess I’m confused mostly”

Alder seems disappointed by her reaction. 

“Should I be upset?” she quirks an eyebrow in question, and the former general sighs “What? ”

“You are alright then? Feel fine?” Alder insists. 

“Well no, cause you’re startin’ to irritate me” she crosses her arms, containing her wishes to punch Alder in the face. What is she up to?

This might be the first time in all her years knowing her that the former general looks happy “Excellent”

Where is this coming from? And what is Alder planning? Cause there’s definitely something she’s not telling her. 

But before she can ask questions, the general starts walking again. Leaving her to follow behind. 

“Hey, wait up” she’s never liked running, doesn’t think she looks good doing it, but walking is not enough when you’re supposed to follow Sarah Alder’s pace “You are not the witchbomb, I am. This plan doesn’t work without me”

“It doesn’t work either if you’re not sufficiently charged up”

“I'm charged up alright” she scoffs, and Alder chuckles “I am!”

“I’m sure you are Collar”

“Why are you doin’ this?” she jumps in front of the older witch to prevent her from escaping “Answer me!”

“This is why it won’t work” Alder's angry gaze falls on her “Look at yourself, Collar. The future of all American witches rest on your shoulders and you’re not ready! You’re an emotional wreck, you’re weak. Can you tell me with complete certainty that when it's time you will be ready?”

“YES” something changes inside her. She’s not really sure what it is, but she can tell. It's like she’s made of energy, like a gigantic wave waiting to be released. She can feel the power in the tips of her fingers. That’s when it hits her, what Alder has done. 

She looks up, and finds the former general smirking at her like this was her plan all along, and maybe it was “You did it on purpose” 

“Of course I did” Alder walks past her, and when Raelle doesn’t move she calls after her “C’mon Collar, we have to detonate this bomb”

She has about a million more questions for the older witch, but first she needs to match her fast pace, something that is not all that hard when she’s overflowing with untapped energy. 

“The questions can wait” Alder warns her, she has stopped walking on the edge of the clearing.

Raelle nods resigned, knowing she won’t get anything from her, and settles for ignoring her and her satisfied smirk. 

“I’ll get Scylla’s bag” she moves to the bushes where they had agreed Scylla would leave her bag and it only takes her a minute to locate it. She opens it to check everything is inside and her fingers come into contact with a piece of paper. Looking over her shoulder she checks that Alder is not looking, and turns her back to the general to open the paper. 

It's a letter, only a few lines of scribbled words in Scylla’s elegant handwriting. 

_ You got this, beautiful. If Alder is giving you shit remember I love you and I will kick her ass. Come get me, Rae. Love you, Scylla. _

Raelle quickly hides the letter in her pocket and picks the bag up. She walks pass Alder, hand already in her scourge “C’mon”

Alder gives her suspicious look but follows her. They have to be careful as they approach the barracks. They move slowly through the building, hiding from the passing guards in the shaddows and walking slowly until they reach the main building. 

They have to cross a long distance of open field to reach Scylla and Abigail, and here’s where Alder stealing the youth of some witch in the funeral should come into play. 

The older witch points her head to the open field “You have to detonate the witchbomb in the middle”

“That is crazy” she whispers back, and trusts her angry gestures and harsh tone empathize how uncool it is that Alder waited until now to let her in on this tiny detail. 

Alder shrugs, casually releasing her scourge “I’ll keep you safe”

What was it that Tally had said? Jump and hope it works. Nothing is more uncertain that Alder’s alliance, but at this point all she can do is trust. 

She nods and Alder leads them forward. No one notices them at first, but it just so happens that the sun begins rising as they’re reaching the right place, and now all eyes are on them.

Alder is looking at the sun with a small satisfied smile “It's a good sign. Are you ready?” she asks, looking sideways at her while keeping her scourge at the ready. Soldiers are coming from all directions, and yet she looks softly her way waiting for an answer.

In any other scenario Raelle would wonder why. But right now she just nods. 

For the first time since they walked out of the bunker she’s not filled with doubt. They’re so close that all she can feel is calm. 

This is it.

“I’m ready”

Alder’s earlier words echo in her mind. 

Breathe.

She takes a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. The calmness spreads through her body and she feels light. 

Focus. 

This is the tricky bit. 

She can feel the power flowing wildly through her. She needs to get this right or all will be lost. 

Anxiety starts brewing in her gut. She needs to stop. 

Focus. Focus. Focus. 

_ I love you. _

Scylla’s voice sounds so clear. Raelle can feel her arms around her, holding her close, keeping her safe. 

_ Come get me _ , she had said in the letter. 

“I’m comin’ beautiful” she whispers. 

Is all so clear suddenly. She opens her eyes again, and feels peace.

Everything moves in slow motion as she focuses on the last part of Alder’s mantra. 

Release. 

It feels oddly easy to control the power, to focus her mind in this one objective. All will be fine, she knows it, it doesn’t surprise her nor does she doubt it. 

She feels the power deep inside her and, and with a deep breath she let it go. Through her close eyelids she can still see the wave of light that comes from her, and she falls to her knees catching her breath. 

Alder’s hand on her arm shakes her off, and she takes the offered hand to help her get up. 

Raelle opens her eyes and finds the field filled with fallen soldiers. She doesn’t get to look any deeper, before Alder is already dragging her towards the main building. 

“How did ya know that would work?” she asks, her words come out hurried and breathless, but she needs at least this one answer “You’ve been playin’ me this whole time” 

Ader gives some thought to her answer as they climb the stairs of the main building “I guess in getting to know your mother better, I might have unintentionally learn more about you”

She doesn’t answer only because they have reached the right floor. All around soldiers are coming into their senses, sitting on the floor or supporting themselves against some wall. They are looking around seeming lost. 

The sound of commotion coming from the office at the end of the hall, reminds her why they are here. Tally and her mom should be on their way, they'll check on the soldiers.

Her first glance at the office is like a whiplash. Buttonwood is in the middle of the room, her scourge ready in her hands and she taunting Scylla and Abigail, obviously buying herself time for some unexpected escape plan.

Her eyes go wide when she sees them by the door. Raelle can see the hopeless sigh she lets out. She has to know she has lost. 

“Leave her to me. Help the others” Alder’s voice is back to her strong authoritative tone, and Raelle is moving before she realizes what she’s doing. 

Anacostia is the first one she notices. The general is sitting on the floor massaging her forehead. 

Raelle kneels next to her, her hands already going over to Scylla’s bag “You okay?”

The general nods, she takes her hand in hers and sighs “Took you long enough, Collar. I have the worlds biggest headache”

“Sorry. We run into some trouble and ya know, Alder is here” she points with her head to where the former general is squaring up for a fight. 

“You’re besties now I bet” Anacostia chuckles “Check on the others. I’ll go help” her hand goes to her side in search of her scourge, but it comes back empty.

“Here” Raelle passes her the scourge from Scylla’s bag “See if you can get Abi to come help me”

She can hear shouts as Buttonwood tries to shake off the advances of two generals and Scylla. 

Abigail joins her looking tired and sits down on the floor next to her as Raelle fixes a cut on Petra's arm.

“What happened?”Abigail asks her mother, and Petra looks down at her arm with clear confusion.

“I don’t know. Maybe I fell when I came to” she says quietly. 

As a fixer Raelle’s gotten good at reading body language. She can’t tell the general’s feeling pretty humiliated by having been turned into a zombie by Buttonwood. 

She pushes Abigail forward to help Izadora next.

“What’s goin’ on over there?” she asks while checking the general’s face for any sign that something is not right. 

“Buttonwood is using Work, not sure what. There’s like a barrier protecting her. We got the linker on her but she put up the barrier pretty quickly, and we can get through or reach her with the linker. She knows she’s alone but she won’t go down easily” Abigail explains, the anger clear in her words “We could be here all day”

Izadora looks between the two of them with an odd expression and begins stretching “You two…” she doesn’t finish the sentence, instead she stands up “I’m going to help end this”

Wick is standing up on her own and joining the others, and she’s a fixer so Raelle trusts the older witch’s judgement. That leaves only Gerit to be checked and then there will be so many witches between Buttonwood and a route of escape that she will have to give up and face the undeniable truth that she’s lost. 

Hopefully. 

Gerit is hunched up in a corner holding his head in his hands. It's an odd position to be in and it scares the shit out of her that he might be hurt or something. 

She touches his arm gently, trying not to cause him any more pain than he seems to already be feeling “Hey, Gerit, let me help ya”

He doesn’t move and Raelle turns to Abigail for help or a clue, or anything her sister can offer.

Abigail too gets closer. 

Everything feels abnormally silent, and maybe it's because they’re in a corner of the room or she’s so focused on helping him that she’s ignoring everything else. 

Either way, Abigail gets Gerit to look up and relax his body enough for Raelle to check for any injury. She keeps talking as Raelle does her job, and Gerit slowly begins to relax. 

“She was trying to get inside my head” he speaks quietly, his eyes are firmly on the floor “Said she was going to extricate Tally from my mind.It was...horrible”

Raelle shudders at the idea. The older witch is truly a monster. 

And it would have to be. For getting all these people to work together to bring her down. 

Alder who hates some of her former generals for having let her slip into retirement without having raised their voices to defend her. 

Petra who would gladly take all the glory for herself if it meant getting the power she thinks she deserves. 

And her mother too. Willa is somewhere on these hallways right now with Tally making sure no one comes in Buttonwood’s aid and helping out soldiers who might need a fixer. But she too came to help them get rid of Buttonwood even though she couldn’t be more opposed to anything Petra and Alder represent.

Well not so much Alder apparently. 

But she shakes that last bit off quickly and helps Gerit stand up. 

The sound of boots running through the hallways bring her attention back to the stalemate the fight with Buttonwood has come to. 

With the witch in question holding on to her invisible barrier, leaving the other witches to find something to get through it or obliterate it into outer space.

Raelle can tell they’re getting frustrated and maybe that’s what Buttonwood was counting on. A chance to make herself scarce while the others tried to come up with a plan or a new idea.

But she didn’t account for one thing, though. The same one thing they didn’t account for. 

It all happens in a second. 

The sound of boots from before comes to a screeching halt in front of the office doors and is followed by the sound of a shot being fired. 

A body hits the floor with a resounding thud.

Chaos erupts all around.


	23. Chapter 23

Scylla hears the shot and for the longest second she’s terrified it hit her. 

But she forces herself to keep her eyes on Buttonwood, even as the general laughs when the shots hit the barrier and slowly fall to the floor as if they were props. 

“A gun? You think you can come with your little human toy and kill me?” Buttonwood laughs and takes two steps forward as if the six of them weren’t standing right there. Her attention is now completely on Ashford, the young witch is struggling to get up and holding onto the shotgun as if her life depended on it. 

Scylla gets past the offense of being counted out that easily when she sees her chance. Buttonwood moving means she’s now standing right on a streak of sunlight coming from the window. It makes the barrier she’s been holding onto to keep visible and with it, its weaknesses too. 

And Scylla is a strategist just like her dad. Buttonwood has to remember that. 

Her hands are already flying to her side in search of her scourge except...it's gone. 

Anacostia, standing next to her must read the expression on her face, and throws her scourge at her. Scylla turns, counts to three in her and prays the goddess is on her side. 

The scourge hits the right spot, her left foot that is not protected by the barrier. Scylla pulls with all her strength. 

Buttonwood struggles not to fall, but the moment the pull weakens her stance Petra kicks her other leg from under her. 

She hits the floor with a loud thud. 

“Are you going to kill me now?” she mocks Scylla “I bet you want to” 

“Your not worth the blood in my hands” and Buttonwood is so fucking cocky and full of herself that she needs to rub it in that she thinks she’s won, and yet she doesn’t realize she’s let go of the barrier. Scylla turns to Ashford “Shoot”

The moment she hears the shot her body is thrown around by a blast. 

She hits the floor head first. 

Scylla pushes through the pain in her head trying to get up. She sits up slowly as if not to aggravate her headache. 

Her stomach however, might have other troubles. 

Whatever is left of Buttonwood’s torso and neck is very unpleasant. 

She looks away from it, trying to see where everyone is. 

The generals are thrown around the room too, she sees Wick helping Petra up. 

She thinks she sees movement around the room, but her headache makes it hard to focus. People are moving, coming and going, someone covers the body and then leaves.

She focuses on recounting what's happened in her head, if only to not succumb to the tiredness that has suddenly overtaken her 

She remembers Buttonwood’s stupid smug smile like she’d won. And she hadn’t won, but she hadn't lost either. They were barely an adversary to her protection barrier or whatever she had called it. Alder was growing increasingly frustrated and Petra just wanted to blast the secretary. 

Buttonwood was getting in their heads, she had played them all and she might have been surrounded, but she sure as hell was not giving up and then…

The shot.

And Buttonwood humorless laugh. Like a cartoon villain about to give a speech.

The scourge, the fall, the second shot.

And now Buttonwood’s disfigured body on the carpeted floor. 

It must have all happened in less than a minute. But it felt a lot longer while she was living it.

Izadora’s voice is the first thing she hears after what feels like forever 

"Is that my shotgun?” the general asks. 

Scylla turns her head slowly to follow the voice and finds the general standing next to Ashford who is still holding the weapon in question like it was shielding her from all dangers. 

She lets her head fall again "Someone should give your shotgun a medal"

Izadora's laughter is contagious, but she fears that if she laughs it's going to hurt her.

Instead of laughing she closes her eyes, she'll stand up in a minute. Even with everything there's still left to do, she has earned a second of rest.

It’s ironic that what six witches hadn’t been able to do, one shotgun breezed through. 

It’s also a reminder that even with their power they still live in a human world. 

The memory of Camarilla soldiers flaunting their weapons to her face makes her shudder. 

“Hey, beautiful” Raelle’s face comes into view, she's kneeling next to her “I need you to stop gripping my arm so I can properly check ya up”

Scyla immediately let’s go of her arm, honestly she doesn’t even remember doing it “Sorry”

Raelle gives her a quick smile, it looks like it slips past her lips against her will and it helps Scylla relax despite the painful memories.

“So that happened” she says slowly and follows Raelle’s movements trying to get her to look up. But her girlfriend's focus on checking her up for any injury “Rae”

“Just making sure you’re fine” Raelle promises “You got hit pretty bad by the blast. Izadora was up and runnin’ in a minute, Alder too, but not you. I got worried”

Scylla is still confused about the blast, and now apparently she was unconscious for a bit. She finds Raelle’s hand while she’s examining her face and holds onto it “I’m sorry I made you worry”

Raelle shakes her head “Doesn’ matter. She’s dead Scyl. She’s really dead”

In all the time they’ve been working towards this, she never prepared herself for winning. She wanted it, but didn’t allow herself to hope it would. She started this ready to die if it came to it, but standing on the other side now, she’s glad she didn’t.

If Buttonwood is dead, they won. They’re safe. They will be okay. Just like they kept saying but never truly believing and now it's real. 

“I told Ashford to shoot her, there will be repercussions” she begins just as Raelle has finished her examination.

“Not today” Raelle’s request is soft, and so are her eyes carefully looking at her “I know this is the army, and of course there will be things to take care off tomorrow. When the dust settles we will have to face the consequences of our actions and her death too. But not today. I mean for fucks sakes, Scyl, she said you can’t kill me with a shotgun and then she did”

Scylla is not sure if she should laugh or be eternally mad with the universe. All the plans they’ve gone through, they had the linker on her, it was going to work and a shotgun its what kills her.

Goddess. 

“Are you...mad?” Raelle asks, lifting an eyebrow in question. Is no longer surprising that she can so easily read her mind. Its sweet. 

Scylla is not mad. She simply was unprepared for the reality that all their hard work amounted to was making Buttonwood stand in the spot for Ashford to come last minute and finish her off. 

“It feels...anticlimactic” 

“Like all our hard work was for nothin’?”

“Yeah. I’m having flashbacks to Harding. We worked hard, Rae, so many fucking plans'' she speaks quietly, looking over Raelle’s shoulder as everyone has begun moving. 

Raelle nods, the smile easily setting in her features “So many fuckin’ plans, but I think Louise would find it fittin’ “ she stands up, and offers a hand to help her up “That Buttonwood was ready for us, but when dead came for her, she didn’t see it comin’ and she didn’ stood a chance”

Like so many she sent to die for hate, for her own ambition. It's only fitting she dies in the hands of one she used to cause so much pain. 

And it's fitting too that she died a careless, pathetic death. Scylla finds some comfort in knowing that. 

“We’re free” she whispers, can’t help the smile. The relief. It still feels unreal.

“This will be some great P.R in the morning” Petra has taken to lead the efforts to put Fort Salem back on to normal, even though that is Anacostia’s work “Just imagine the headlines-”

“The army is weak against an internal threat,” Alder scoffs “You’re right as usual Petra, great P.R”

“I was going for something more happy, Sarah” Petra rolls her eyes “Like “Witches coming together to defeat a threat to their survival”

“But we didn’t do it” Scylla’s not afraid to raise her voice, and Petra seems open to hear her, she’s earned it “Ashford did. We simply held Buttonwood in position”

Abigail comes up, taking her arm and starts dragging her away “We’ll leave you to talk” she tells the older witches, and Petra shakes her head with fondness at the two retreat. Alder glares at them.

Outside the office she shakes Abigail’s hands away “I had every right to say-”

“I know,” Abigail says trying to calm her down, and she seems relieved when Raelle, Tally and Gerit join them. 

Raelle has Scylla’s bag with her. The bag where she she has been keeping Louise’s flag and scourge. Well the scourge until she saw it in the hands of Anacostia who then gave it back to her. 

Scylla looks at the scourge still in her hands. Louise’s scourge. The one she used to take down Buttonwood. This is one small irony she can deal with. 

Raelle passes her the bag when she catches her staring at the object in her hands “Now that they are dealin’ with that, I think there’s one more thing we have to do”

That is one thing they can agree on. 

Scylla wants nothing more with the army. Paying her respect to Louise and all her fellow brothers and sisters might just be the right way to say goodbye. 

“And after that drinks are on me” Abigail adds, putting a hand on Scylla’s shoulder she leads them outside “I expect everyone’s help with organizing the party we’re throwing for Gerit and Tal, ‘cause I haven’t forgotten” she looks at the couple with a grin “And after that, Scylla has kindly invited us into her and Rae’s beach vacation”

“She has?” Raelle asks, the humor clear in her voice. 

“I did not” but she wouldn’t mind it all that much. As long as she and Raelle get some alone time she’s fine with having her family crash her vacation. 

“She did. It’s a family vacation” Abigail insists “Cause that’s what we are, isn’t that right cousin?”

Scylla chuckles “That last bit is true”

Despite all the teasing and banter, the cemetery is no happy place.

They all have people they’ve known and love here, and they decide to go their own ways and find each other later. 

Today is one of those days to walk down memory lane. It has felt a lot like the end of something they’ve been building to for a while, and Scylla finds herself reflecting on how far she’s come. As a person, and with the family she found. With Raelle. 

Raelle who is holding her hand and allowing Scylla to find whatever she’s looking for. 

For Scylla, the memories are especially heavy. That’s why she stops in front of two graves, Nat and Ruby’s. Petra wouldn’t tell her where Marion was buried and Scylla has never been here before, but it feels weird for them to be here without Marion. 

Without her. 

Raelle squeezes her hand, a silent reminder that she’s here. 

“Nat was a joker” she begins and it doesn’t hurt as much as she thought it would, to be here and to speak of them “I kept a picture of you with me, and he always teased me for it. He used to call you my blonde fixer”

“Very creative” Raelle adds with a small smile.

“Yeah, he wasn’t the most creative. He knew a certain number of jokes and every once in a while he ended telling us the same joke again, and then we’d tease him for it” she smiles at the memory, still surprised by how it warms her heart to remember them. She really has come a long way “Ruby was all about books, words, anything she could get her hands on. Sometimes she’d share her books with me and we’d discuss them while moving from one place to another”

“Like a book club?”

The question is honest and it makes her laugh “Yeah, but Ruby would hate it that you called it that”

Raelle gives her a confident smile “I think I could charm her into liking me”

She nods, that’s true “I know you could. You are as charming as they come”

“Got it from my pop”

“Of course you did” 

Raelle kisses her cheek “Tell me ‘bout Marion”

“She was older than the rest of us. Nat, Ruby and I had lost our families to the army as kids, and Marion had lost her husband and kid, she took us as her own. Petra called Omega team, but we called ourselves Othala”

“Like the rune?”

“Yeah. Cause we all lost our families to the army, so we made our own family with each other. Marion sewed the rune on the inside of our jackets” she remembers how safe she used to feel when wearing that jacket “I think she’d like that I...I have a family again. I think she’d like you” she knows it's true. They would all love Raelle. Thinking of them approving Raelle makes her smile.

“Well Louise liked me alright” 

Scylla laughs and choses not to answer “Thank you for coming with me”

Raelle gives her sweetest of smiles “Of course. I always wanna go where you go, Scyl”

She stops herself from saying something stupid, like the north pole or the Himalayas and screw the moment. She kisses her instead, short and sweet, ‘cause they still are the cemetery. 

“Do you want a minute alone?” Raelle asks, and she’s beginning to move away. 

Scylla stops her, and takes her hand again “Not right now. I always want to go where you go too”

“It's goin’ to be hard goin’ places like this” Raelle laughs, and Scylla thinks she can see into the future for a minute. 

She sees them getting a place together, going about living normal lives. Having family night with their everyone, tagging along for Abigail’s extravagant vacations overseas and visiting Izadora and Anacostia for the holidays. 

It's beautiful. 

It feels amazing to be free. 

Raelle has started leading them to meet the others, but she stops them before they walk to close and interrupts the conversation happening between Gerit and Tally. 

They seem happy in their own little world.Scylla wonders if she and Raelle are like that too. 

“Anyone else sense a little Louise running around us soon?” Abigail comes from behind them and she rolls her eyes at the couple.

“A little Louise Bellweather?” she asks, turning to look at her cousin in the eyes.

“I meant Craven obviously. But Ramshorn-Collar, Collar-Ramshorn, whatever suits you, too” Abigail shrugs, faking nonchalance. 

“That’d be a lot of Louises” Raelle supplies, making them all laugh.

It also makes Tally and Gerit become aware that they’re being watched. 

Tally beams at them and comes to hug them “Can you guys believe it's really over?”

“We’re safe...and free,” Gerit adds, trying to smile.

He's hurting, like she was when her parents died. Even if her parents were good people and his mom was the actual worse.

“I’ll be fine” he reassures them quickly. 

“You don’t have to be” Scylla doesn’t know what else to say. 

“We have your back” Raelle assures him, putting a hand on his shoulder “You’re family, Gerit Craven”

Abigail nods “And you can’t get rid of us. We’re huggers, by the way. It's your wife’s fault” and starts walking, expecting them to follow. 

When Abigail stops, she’s the one who knows where Louise is buried, they find that Anacostia and Izadora are already there. Willa and Alder are coming up too, slowly talking as they make their way over. Petra nods at the group as she and Wick join them a minute later.

Scylla is not surprised to learn the Swythe’s have a space designated for their graves. She is surprised to learn that’s where Marion was laid to rest, and now Louise is next to her. 

In the light of the recent events she feels more emotional than the usual, and maybe they all do. She slips her hand between Raelle’s and finds that her girlfriend is eager for the contact, staring between her mother and Alder with a glare. 

“Oh calm down, Collar” Ader rolls her eyes “We’re friends, okay?”

“Always were” Willa clearifies for her daughter confort, she ignores the looks from other generals who don’t know what they’re talking about. 

“Sometimes more friendlier than others” Alder adds, before quickly moving towards the front of the group “Okay, everyone. As the older here, I thought I’d say a few words”

They nod, even though no one is really going to try to stop Alder. 

“Louise Swythe came from a long line of brave witches, I fought alongside her ancestors for generations and never doubted they would have my back, except for her aunt, I did not care for her. My point is Louise Swythe was brave, and she died not for her country but for her people, there is no higher honor than that. Nations rise and fall, but the bonds we build between us, brothers and sisters and lovers, a family, that is sacred. And I...shouldn’t have forgotten that” she looks away to the distance for a moment, when her turn back to them she looks determined “This is how I will remembers Louise Swythe, as a reminder of what truly matters, and the things worth dying for”

She extends her hands to take the flag from Scylla, who begrudgingly gives it to her. 

“She might have been the last of the Swythes” Alder’s eyes are firm on her “But she wasn’t without a family” she returns the flag back to Scylla who takes it with a brief nod. 

Alder moves back to her earlier pace by Willa’s side

“No better time for you speech cousin” Abigail bumps their shoulders together. 

“It's an eulogy” Scylla bumps back “And I can think of a few better scenarios for it”

“Like not havin’ to do it at all?” Willa asks, and Scylla passes the flag to her. 

Willa takes it with great care. 

Scylla moves to the front where Alder was standing when she spoke, and thinks about how good it is she memorized her eulogy.

Before speaking she lets her eyes wander to the small group. From Anacostia and Izadora, standing together and looking like proud parents. Petra pretending to be unaffected by everything but also looking like a proud parent. Willa bumps Ader and the older witch relents and smiles just a bit. They’ve really come a long way. All of them. 

Wick watches the scene with the amusement of a stranger who doesn't fully understand what's happening.

They are a family, even the ones she didn’t willingly accept. 

Abigail stands between her sisters, and Gerit stands next to his wife with a small smile. 

Never in her wildest dreams did she imagined all this. 

Scylla’s lost too many families before, but this one she gets to keep. 

And she's forever thankful for everyone of them.

“I knew Louise only for a short time, but I knew of her for many years. I met her first through her mother's stories. I felt her mother as if she were my own, and in the end I thought of her as my sister too. She was loud and opinionated. Too smart for her own good, and too foolish for a spy. But she had a good heart, when it mattered she was there. And her heart was always in the right place. Louise wanted to make the world fairer for our kind, and I think that’s a sentiment we can all agree on. She fought for the future she wanted, she risked it all. I have been thinking about the frase “the ultimate sacrifice” for a while now. They say a soldier dies for its country, I think Louise died for her dream. She wanted it, really wanted it and I think she should’ve gotten to see it. She would have been the most annoying sister I never wanted, but everyday I know it would be a little brighter if she was here. My life became a lot more interesting, and dangerous too since she showed up. In a time where I needed to be reminded of the things that mattered, Louise was there. She teased me, and shoved me, she put my world upside down until I allowed myself to let go of my fears and embrace the world despite its unfairness. For all those things I am thankful. I will always be thankful”

She pauses, her eyes landing on the grave and the name that should not be written there. 

“May the Goddess bless you, Louise, may you find peace. May we all find peace” she looks at each of them, her family with a new found sense of determination. When her eyes land on Raelle she allows herself a smile “For at last the war is over”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are you guys, I hope you have enjoyed it. I had so much fun writting it and reading your comments was the highlight of my sundays, I loved getting to hear your theories and stuff you liked, and so many times y'all kept yelling at me to kill a character I'm glad my villains had you coming up with creative way to get rid of them.   
> Anyways I'm really glad we went on this little journey togheter and that you kept coming back even when I though a particular chapter sucked, i love y'all

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think!!  
> find me at tumblr @realbluedragon


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